The Span Man
No bridge is too lofty for passionate Closter photographer Dave Frieder.
When we flipped through the pages of The Magnificent Bridges of New York City, the 2019 book that sent the photographic career of 66-year-old Closter resident Dave Frieder to new heights, we were brimming with Qs and hoped he’d have a few As. Since he’s fearless about climbing structures halfway to the sky, for example, what does frighten him? Look out below—we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
When did you know photography was what you wanted to do?
“It’s hard to say. My dad gave me a Kodak Brownie camera when we moved from Queens to Jersey when I was 6, and that’s when I started taking pictures. At 7 or 8, someone gave me a box camera. At 12, I decided to make a darkroom rather than send out for prints. I was just having fun. It wasn’t until the early ’80s, when my dad showed me a poster of Ansel Adams’ Moonrise Over Hernandez, that I got more interested in photography. I took a two-week workshop with Ansel's former assistants and afterward bought a large-format camera. It became my passion.”
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
“Photographer Morley Baer said, ‘Dave, you do beautiful work, but you have to focus on a subject.’ I’d seen photos of the Golden Gate Bridge, and that gave me the idea of shooting New York bridges.”
What did you love most about photographing the 20 New York bridges in your book?
“Climbing them! Each one was my jungle gym. I’d done gymnastics for more than 20 years, but I couldn’t do it anymore. It’s a great sport, but literally destroys you.”
What can’t you live without?
“My photography. As long as I have my photography, I’m good.”
What would you be if not a photographer?
“That’s difficult to answer as it’s a passion, not a profession. Once I got involved with the bridges, I found civil engineering fascinating. It’s incredible how much these people have to know: the math, the physics. I started collecting erector sets. I’ve always found mechanical things interesting.”
Has anything ever gone wrong?
“I’ve been attacked by peregrine falcons on a few bridges. They’re very territorial birds, especially if they have babies in the nest. They attack you with their claws. If there are no babies in the nest, and you wave your arms and hands in the air, they’ll back off. You need to show them that you’re not afraid. But if they’re protecting their babies, they’re brutal.”
What safety precautions do you take?
“I use a full-body safety harness. I designed my own safety equipment; all my equipment and cameras were tethered to me. I could let go of everything, and nothing would fall.”
Besides your equipment, do you take anything else with you when you climb?
“Only a bottle of water and granola bars. I’m carrying 60- to 70-pound backpacks at steep angles, so I have to keep it light.”
What’s been your most exciting artistic moment?
“Photographing the northernmost sphere of the Manhattan Bridge. It’s a black-and-white photo that shows the Twin Towers.”
Have you ever wanted to go back and alter one of your images?
“Yes. The full view of the George Washington Bridge. I wish there were clouds in it, but to get to that location wasn’t easy. I had to take what Mother Nature gave me.”
With everything going on in the world, would you be able to take these photos today?
“It would be impossible! What I did can never be done again because of 9/11. Everything has changed, including general access to climbing bridges to take photographs. [Even then] I had to contact the New York City Department of Transportation, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority—even Amtrak. Fortunately, this was 1992, so I didn’t have to deal with too many miles of red tape. I had to get high liability insurance, so the Bridge Authority would be off the hook. I got my own full-body harness and special gloves for chipped lead paint. With some bridges, like the Brooklyn Bridge, you have to be escorted up by iron workers. So I had to pay them every time I went up.”
Why do you shoot only in film when most have gone digital?
“Digital photos look nice, but film has a warmer look. With digital, you’re looking at pixels, not thousands of bits of silver. And it’s on a screen, whereas with film there’s a negative or a print.”
Which of your photographs hang in your home?
“There’s only one: my best-known image, the one taken at the top of the Manhattan Bridge. I do have other photos, such as John Sexton’s Aspens, Dusk, Conway Summit, California and Morley Baer’s Water Tower.”
Is there a particular photographer who inspired you?
“Ansel Adams. I’ve gotten to know him and his family well.”
Clearly you have no fear of heights. Does anything frighten you?
“Only one thing: lightning. And not just up on the bridges—I can be in my room and freak out. I’ve always been scared of lightning, though I’ve worked with X-ray equipment and very high voltages. When I was a kid, I used a knife to tighten a loose hinge, and it got stuck in the outlet. The fuse blew, the lights all went out, and my mom got mad. I still have that bulb socket with the copper burned away. I was lucky.”
What’s next in terms of subjects?
“There are five other bridges I’d like to climb and photograph, if my back allows: the Golden Gate Bridge; the Oakland Bay Bridge; the Ben Franklin Bridge between Camden and Philly; the Mackinac, which was named after the Indian tribe and spans the straits of Mackinac [connecting Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to the rest of the state]; and the Akashi Kai-kyo Bridge in Japan, the longest suspension bridge in the world.”
You mentioned you were a gymnast in your youth. How did that affect you?
“I was thin as a kid, and everyone else was big, so I started weight lifting. When I was a high school freshman, I tried gymnastics, and I liked it. The more I did gymnastics, the better I became at it. Pretty soon I was the best gymnast in school. It gave me confidence.”
Where do you like to go in Bergen County?
“My favorite place is the George Washington Bridge, on top of the New Jersey Tower. But in Closter, I love Rudy’s Pizza.”
Does your choice of bridges as a subject reflect your personality?
“I am kind of like the bridges—very precise. And while I’m not a fanatic, I am a perfectionist.”
