United States Illinois Chicago Abandoned Industrial Bridge Over River Urban Black And White Photography | Limited Edition of 10
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This photograph was made from the water, not the sidewalk. Shot from a small boat moving slowly along the Chicago River, the perspective comes from directly beneath the abandoned Chicago & North Western Railway Bridge — a structure most people only ever experience from above, if they notice it at all. From this angle, the bridge stops being infrastructure and becomes something far more intimate.
The frame is a dense web of riveted steel, cross-bracing, ladders, and weathered plates layered in every direction. Nothing here is decorative. Every beam exists for a reason, and that honesty is what gives the image its weight. The bridge is no longer active, but it hasn’t softened with time. Rust gathers along edges, paint flakes away, and the geometry remains uncompromising. In black and white, visual distractions fall away, leaving structure, repetition, and the quiet authority of engineered form.
Downtown Chicago is filled with architecture designed to impress. What draws me to places like this is the opposite. This bridge was built to move freight and industry through the city, not to be admired. From the river, the scale becomes unavoidable. Steel presses overhead. Light filters through gaps in the framework, catching rivets and seams and carving depth from shadow. The sound of the city fades, replaced by the movement of water and the subtle creak of aging metal responding to time and temperature.
This image was created on location from lived experience, navigating the river and positioning the boat to align the structure overhead. It wasn’t imagined or reconstructed later. I personally sign each print and include a certificate of authenticity confirming it as a real photograph, printed and finished by the artist who was there.
Authorship matters here because access matters. You don’t arrive at this view accidentally. Being on the water changes your relationship to the city — familiar structures become unfamiliar again. Beneath the Chicago & North Western Railway Bridge, the city reveals a more honest version of itself, one defined by function, endurance, and material truth rather than polish.
If scenes like this resonate with you, you may also appreciate Chicago Industrial L Train Tracks Downtown.
© Dan Kosmayer, 2024
Edition Information
This photograph is released as a signed and numbered edition of 10 prints across all available sizes. Each print is individually signed and numbered by the artist on the reverse and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.
Once all 10 prints have been sold, this work will be permanently retired, and no further numbered editions will be produced in any size or format. A small number of Artist Proofs may be retained by the artist for archival or exhibition purposes.
Museum Quality Fine Art Prints
All prints are produced by the artist using archival pigment inks on professional photographic paper with a subtle luster finish.
This paper offers a balanced surface that enhances tonal depth, preserves fine detail, and reduces glare under typical indoor lighting conditions.
Each print is carefully inspected prior to dispatch to ensure consistency of finish and presentation.
Free Worldwide Delivery
Each print is personally produced, signed, and packaged by me at my studio in Haliburton, Ontario, Canada.
Orders are shipped worldwide via Canada Post at no additional cost. Delivery times may vary based on destination and local customs processing.
During periods of travel for on-location photographic work, dispatch may be delayed until I return to the studio.
