Revisiting The Underpass
08/09/25
Nothing is ever static.
I went on an impromptu shoot with Peacock Photography at a location we’d both explored back in 2023, an incredible old wooden bridge spanning an abandoned railway line out past Dumaresq Dam. I’d hoped to test some portrait shots using the harsh shadows cast by the bridge, but to my dismay, the bridge was now… gone!
The only hints of the old bridge’s existence were a few railings and signs leading up to where it once stood, we were both incredibly disappointed. I can certainly understand why it was removed for safety reasons, but from a creative perspective, the location had so much potential.
I had a number of plans for that spot: from fine art nudes making use of the harsh, patterned shadows, to an animated short using live-action background plates about bugs. The section of rail line beneath the old bridge had plant life growing through it, creating an incredibly interesting and moody setting for the short film, one I’ll now have to find a new home for.
I suppose the moral of the story is to seize the day; the location you want to shoot might not be there when you return, even in the slow, but ever-changing, Australian bush.
