Into a Bright World

I returned to Newport over the weekend to hike the entirety of the Cliff Walk.

I’ve been a number of times since moving to Rhode Island.

Up to now, however, I had only trekked the very short part that goes from Easton’s Beach to Forty Steps.

I arrived shortly before 8 AM. There were locals out and about, but I had good stretches of time to myself to take things in and scout for compositions.

A lot occurred to me as I made my way along the snaking paths, some of it paved and some of it scrambles over boulders, with warning signs that these stretches required agility and balance and to turn back if in doubt.

I thought this was a very funny way for the city to say that it couldn’t be bothered to make said boulder scrambles safer and that we regular people are on our own.

A stark contrast to the towering mansions with well-maintained acreage for the privately wealthy to enjoy in safety.

To be fair, there are ample railings along stretches of the walk. I never felt truly in danger.

And tourists can visit some of the famous estates lining the coast (entering from the Bellevue Avenue side).

But I eventually put all my gear away so that I could traverse some of the less hospitable areas as I got closer to the end of the land without risking damage to my camera and lens.

There’s also a bit of irony in the lengths that land holders will go to in order to keep people out.

Ugly fencing lines a good number of if not most of the properties.

Kind of feels like cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face, in my view.

And of course at its root this practice of fencing off the now marred view of the sea stems from a desire to possess those views and a fear of the those of us who don’t possess them.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I ended up photographing a lot of these barriers. Which brings me to today’s share.

The idea that boring a tunnel underneath an estate was an expensive way to get Cliff Walkers from point A to point B occurred to me.

It partly feels like walking through industrial pipe. Or doing something rather abnormal and resigning oneself to the reality of the world.

But also, it gave me the impression of being birthed.

I played around a lot in post to try to capture that second mood.

The initial exposure is on the dark side in the tunnel.

I made this darker still and muted the metal ribs. And went even heavier on this in the bottom two thirds, with the floor being the darkest value.

I also brightened up the area just outside the opening, leaving the view of the ocean and sky farther away closer to the original brightness.

Kind of like so that your vision resolves the farther you look into the distance while remaining vague and indistinct closer to the back of the frame.

I think I’m going to revisit this spot and photograph this idea again.

Not because I don’t think this is a good composition.

It is.

I also think I can do better.

I didn’t want to obstruct the passage and so shot hand held.

I plan next time to take my light tripod and create something dreamier.

Not too worried about anyone taking that idea up and beating me to the chase.

It’s still not going to be the same photo as mine, as the water and conditions will never be the same for two people making that kind of composition, assuming I and they aren’t doing so at the exact same time.