Bridge, love and padlocks, a photo from Ile-de-France, North

Photographer's Note

Pont des Arts

My photo
When I was in Paris I try to be at this bridge at sunset,enjoying the charming atmosphere, with music and picnics, being the traditional a good election of cheese
During the day its view is very nice with the padlocks shinning at the sun and also music, picnics and people attaching locks, looking for their old ones, taken photos
It was almost 10 in the evening when leaving it, I turned back and saw this sunset with people silhouettes still on the bridge

Love and the bridge
Paris is the latest in a string of tourist sites to be struck by the love lock madness, whose origins are unclear

In the world
In Pécs, southern Hungary, lovers have been clamping padlocks to a fence in a street linking the mosque in the city's main square and its medieval cathedral since the 1980s as a sign of commitment.

In Florence, Italy, love padlocks have been affixed to the railing at the center of the Ponte Vecchio

Lock-struck sweethearts also favor Mount Huang, China, where it is customary to '"lock your soul" together and then throw the key over the edge of the cliff into the misty valleys below

In Russia, newlyweds have placed so many padlocks on the Luzhkov bridge in downtown Moscow that authorities have installed a tree-like iron bar structures for them to hang locks on

History of The Pont des Arts

This structure goes back to 1804 when Napoleon, then the First Consul, wanted Paris to have a metal bridge. However, it was built later and was less audacious than Colebrockdale Bridge in England, the first of its kind.In fact it was a pedestrian footbridge, originally with a one-penny toll, built by the engineers Louis-Alexandre de Cessart and Jacques Lacroix-Dillon. The elegance of its architecture and the great delicacy of the steel sections make it a structure of rare lightness, elevated in relation to the piers.
The name Pont des Arts (Arts Bridge) comes from the former name of the Palais du Louvre (Louvre Palace), or Palais des Arts (Arts Palace) during the First Empire, which it linked to the Collège des Quatre-Nations (College of Four Nations), which is today the Institute.
It was a real hanging garden with bushes, flowers and benches for walkers.
Although it was rebuilt during the Second Empire, the original structure of the footbridge was too light and its nine arches obstructed river traffic.
After being damaged several times by barges, it was closed in 1970 for safety reasons.
Ten years later, when the reconstruction project by the architect, Louis Arretche, was being formulated, certain historians and navigation services pleaded for the structure not to be rebuilt since it would have spoil the views of the Louvre.

The new footbridge, finished in 1985 on seven steel arches supporting a wooden decking that is 11 m wide and has only seven arches instead of nine.
The original structure that was demolished in 1981 and dated from 1804 was made of nine cast iron arches, of which the two Left Bank arches had been replaced by a single puddle steel arch when the Quai Conti (Conti Quay) was extended.

bukitgolfb301, mohammad_H, kordinator, worldcitizen, jlbrthnn, danos, ourania, aliabazari, adramad, s_lush, josepmarin has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Didi (49158) 2012-10-09 16:16

Bonjour Maria
C'est presque l'heure bleue; un contre-jour intéressant où on distingue les milliers de cadenas fixés.

J'ai même vu un antivol de motocyclette accroché :)

Je pense ici qu'il aurait fallu se positionner en 3/4 pour avoir une perspective latérale du pont, ceci aurait diminué sur la photo les zones sombres de la structure de ce pont.
Amitiés

bukitgolfb301 (30401) 2012-10-09 16:27

Hi HOLA dear Maria

So wonderful purple color world you captaured / creatd and conveyed to us! Great framework and composition too. Thank you for your sharing with fines work and have a good day!

Takero from Tokyo

mohammad_H (6668) 2012-10-09 23:22

Hi
Beautiful view of the clouds and raging climax of this beautiful horizon with very nice colors,
Skyline reflected in water beautiful color photos added
The superb light management with a view
Good sharpness and beautiful colors
Have a nice day

yquem46 (32835) 2012-10-09 23:29

Hola Maria
belle photo du pont des arts au coucher du soleil
J'aime les silhouettes noires qui se détachent bien sur ce beau ciel aux couleurs rosées
Bien fait et très plaisant
Bonne journée, amicalement
Patrick

kordinator (13613) 2012-10-10 1:23

Dear Maria
Spectacular btidges silhouettes and lovely pink tones of thesky and of the water.
Lovely place with nice presence of peoples.
Excellent depth and perspective picture.
Sharpness and clarity are of high quality.
Perfect point of view and framing.
Kind regards
Saša

lousat (58446) 2012-10-10 1:26

Hi Maria,great choice of point fof view to create this beautiful and romantic backlight,i like this pink sky whit the thunderstorm coming in background,perfect details and good exposure too.Have a nice day and thanks,Luciano

cornejo (18714) 2012-10-10 5:36

Hola Maria, muy buena e interesante foto de este puente a contraluz en este atardecer parisino, muy buen e interesante trabajo bien realizado, mis felicitaciones amiga mia, gracias por compartir.

Buen dia y feliz semana.
Un cordial saludo.
Angel.

fabbs99 (6322) 2012-10-10 10:20

Hi Maria

Great image of the bridge with the water reflecting the evening sunlight.Excellent composition with some lovely colors coupled with nice light management and the tinted presentation.Well done.TFS

Best Regards
Farhat

worldcitizen (4930) 2012-10-10 16:34

Hello Maria,
This is a beautiful photo, combining Paris scenery, lovely silhouettes, and a wonderful purple sky. The unique color makes the river very colorful, too. I like the effect all of the small locks make on the bridge. The tiny silhouettes look like a collection of small dots from your POV.

abmdsudi (27118) 2012-10-11 3:24

Hi Maria
Thanks for sharing and the 'love lock madness' I have never heard before honestly. This is splendid picture catches immediately the attention. Superbly composed,
everything here works fine with the dotted locks, placement of the silhouettes and gorgeous pinkish hues and the squiggley reflections further add the effect depicting a really relaxing mood of the evening. You have seen the wonderful photo opportunity there and timely transforms this beautifully full of content and interest. Great work, Congrats
Warm regards

jlbrthnn (79787) 2012-10-11 7:11

Hola Maria,
El puente, muy famoso en París, se fotografía bajo una luz casi irreal, y muy hermosa. La vista es original. La atmósfera está bien descrita. Buena calidad. Bravo.
Buen día.
Amicalement
Joël

danos (74518) 2012-10-11 7:16

Hola Maria,
dreamily the snapshot with the people on the bridge to enjoy the colour hues of the sky as the singularity of the place.The pinkish reflections on the river waters as the dark silhouttes of the people make the image so attractive.

Regards,Danos

ourania (13085) 2012-10-11 10:47

Hola Maria,
I love this purple light that bathes eeverything and affects all the colours in the picture making the atmosphere unbearably romantic. The bridge and the people on it(although not very romantic at this moment) are silhouetted superbly against the passionate purple glow. The deep view under the bridge is very clear, interesting and lovely. Your lighting is very apt and the colous harmonious and delightful. Congratulations and thank you!
All the best, have a great day,
Ourania

jemaflor (69731) 2012-10-11 13:48

Hi Maria,
Superbes teintes avec ces reflets sur l'eau, beau contraste avec les ombres, bon résultat.

kato (7086) 2012-10-11 20:56

Hello Maria,

You're capturing well this moody scene by a good angle and excellent tone/clarity, so it's impressive to see river Seine and the bridge in sunset. It's romantic the river and sky dyed to thin red, and the bridge with silhouette. And, the people on the bridge draws out a good atmosphere in this image.

Kind regards,
mikio

aliabazari (10165) 2012-10-12 11:27

Hi Maria's
Good record of pleasing landscape with beautiful sunset. Exposure and depth of the well performed.
Thank you for a beautiful record.
Regards, Ali

adramad (27872) 2012-10-12 15:49

Hola Maria.
Una composicion mágica y encantadora, el contraluz del puente con los formidables colores del cielo es una preciosidad, todas esas personas que se hayan en el, dan un bonito toque vital a la imagen, ideal la amplia perspectiva que podemos contemplar atraves de su arco.
Un imagen ideal, que nos transmite la ensoñacion de esta magica ciudad.
Disfrtua de un bonito fin de semana.
Un abrazo.
Luis.

s_lush (15638) 2012-10-13 9:01

Hello Maria,
You have captured this romantic place at the time of the day, when wonderful sunset light makes a really romantic atmosphere around. Very good point of view, beautiful colors, colorful sky, interesting architectural details and perfect quality despite the dim light!
Best regards,
Sergiy

Nicou (98775) 2012-10-19 6:06

Hello

je veux te dire que j'adore ton nom c'est splendide.
superbe cpatage de ce pont avec la vue grandisoe cpatage avec les personnage et ce ciel rosé superbe.

Bravo et amitié

Nicou

josepmarin (55209) 2012-10-23 3:03

Hola María,
podemos ver los miles de candados en la baranda del puente, gracias al eficaz contraluz.
Me gusta la superposición de puentes en tu composición, la perspectiva del río, el cielo nublado y el magnífico efecto creado por las tonalidades púrpura de la puesta de sol en la imagen.
La foto tiene un fuerte carácter y es muy atractiva.
Bello trabajo, con una espléndida información en la nota.
Un abrazo,
Josep

batalay (32930) 2012-12-04 22:54

Hello Dear Maria,

I've been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to submit photos or two per month, nor have I had chance to see what has been posted. This is a unique way of capturing the practice of attaching padlocks to the bridge — and throwing the keys into the water — emblematic of a bond's permanency. You've capture the silhouettes of countless padlocks seen from the reverse side in the City of Love, the City of light. Both are present here.

Warm regards,

Bulent

claudeD (24601) 2012-12-31 5:31

Hello Maria,

wonderful picture from Paris with a perfect composition and amazing colors. I shot full of atmosphere. Very well done.TFS.

I wish all the best for you and your family.

With regards from Luxembourg

JC