Under construction: Awe-inspiring black and white photos show the building of Bay Area bridges

by Claudine Zap

While construction of the new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge won’t be finished until December, photos of the original construction of the bridge are being revealed, shown for the first time together, since they were first displayed in the 1930s. Photographer Peter Stackpole, just in his 20s and willing to experiment with a hand-held camera, fearlessly followed bridge workers on the catwalks atop the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge for some spectacular photographs.

The Oakland Museum of California’s exhibit, Peter Stackpole: Bridging the Bay, featured his photographs from the 1930s that document the construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge.