Thursday, October 20, 2016

Birds Of Silence

This seems an appropriate counter to yesterday's post, since falcons are the subject of this post as well. I occasionally photograph from the bridge where Bronson Avenue crosses the Rideau Canal. A short drive south from there, the road crosses the Rideau River. I can't recall ever mentioning this bridge, which is considerably longer than the first one. At the south side, a series of panels were placed here a couple of years ago by a local artist, Christopher Griffin, with falcons as the theme. These four large panels are poured concrete, and the artist worked the details into the surface as the concrete was drying. These panels have been placed beneath the bridge, between the bike path and the road.


He also placed three concrete statues of these birds, with more of an impressionist feel, up above on the bridge, upon two outlooks for pedestrians. On the west side, one of these birds stands as a sentry. Each statue looks like the eyes are covered, as you'd see with typical falconry.


While on the other, two of them are together, overlooking the river. This spot is about ten minutes or so of a walk from my door, but I rarely get out this way, and haven't photographed them before.


For an alternate take, here are the two east side statues at night, taken a couple of nights before the previous pics.

31 comments:

  1. That does tie in well with yesterday's post.

    Pretty darn cool.

    Happy mid-week :-)

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  2. Wow, awesome, and it is a perfect sequel to your last post, William. :)

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  3. I like that - wonderful detail to see on a bridge. Function with art (I guess)!

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  4. What a nice surprise to find these on a bridge.

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  5. Very nice to have the birds on the bridge, never seen something like that before.

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  6. Oooo...love that next to last picture - super night shot. Can't imagine trying to work in cement before it dries. Gotta take a lotta confidence!

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  7. Interesting and unusual for me.
    A real surprise !

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  8. Love those gorgeous statues. And I love reflection of sky on water. What an amazing view!

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  9. @Whisk: thanks!

    @Linda: I thought so.

    @Mike: it was a good addition to the bridge.

    @Marleen: that it is.

    @Marianne: it was imaginative.

    @Lowell: with that, the artist was working against time.

    @Mo: it is different.

    @Karl: thanks!

    @Tamago: it was amazing.

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  10. I really like the statues. Must be neat walking by them.

    Janis
    GDP

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  11. prefer the panels to the statues, all in all though very nice especially the panels.

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  12. I can't believe you haven't taken shots of the falcon panels and sculptures before William, and so close to you ☺ love the last two shots with the view.

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  13. Your penultimate photo was sweet! Imagine working in drying cement: Wow!

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  14. Falcons are very famous for their flight and skill of catching prey in the air. I can see why the artist would be fascinated with falcons. I like the way you have shown all parts of this series.

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  15. @Tex: I do too.

    @Janis: it was a surprise the first time I saw them.

    @Gill: the artist did good work.

    @Grace: even though it's so close to home, I'm rarely on that bridge, probably because there's not anything on the far side that catches my attention. This time, going by at night, was simply because I was coming back from the mall over to the east by a different route, and decided to photograph those statues in day as well.

    @Cloudia: thanks!

    @Red: it was a good subject.

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  16. Great find of these birds of silence. The sculptures look big.

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  17. I love those panels. I love how subtle they are.

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  18. now that is super cool. what a great pieces of art. ( ;

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  19. I love the bird panels. They're very subtle, but definitely works of art.

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  20. all the bird art is wonderful!
    Thanks for sharing.

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  21. @Nancy: deceptively so. They're a bit larger than life, but not too big.

    @Sharon: the artist had a very good concept for this project.

    @Mari: definitely!

    @Beth: they are, yes.

    @RedPat: so do I.

    @Halcyon: they really are.

    @Tammie: you're welcome.

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  22. I guess the artist had to work pretty fast then.

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  23. Thanks for sharing these fascinating photos.

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  24. How nice to celebrate these birds with art. (And I love your second to last shot - sky, water, clouds - all is wonderful.)

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  25. I like the night time photo! I'm not good walking much these days. Thanks for the trip!

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  26. The panels are a creative representation of falcons, beautifully placed round the bridge.

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  27. @Revrunner: definitely.

    @Eve: you're welcome.

    @Kay: thank you!

    @Jennifer: you're welcome.

    @Gemma: they certainly are.

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