Lot Essay
Moulin Studios of San Francisco is perhaps the oldest family run photographic studio in California. With a long and honorable reputation, Moulin Studios has been in existence since April 18, 1906, the date of the great San Francisco earthquake and fire. On this same date, Gabriel Moulin (1872-1945) left R.J. Waters & Co. because the principal of the firm refused to remove irreplaceable negatives from the premises to save them from certain destruction. Moulin, a former assistant to I.W. Taber, went on to build an uncompromising photographic business with exacting standards for creative and technical brilliance. Gabriel Moulin trained his two sons, Raymond and Irving, in the techniques he practiced and both became active in the studio's business. Gabriel, the father, however was the initial driving force. Gabriel Moulin was well ahead of his time. Perhaps he anticipated the "f64 Group" of Bay Area photographers (Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, Alma Lavenson, and others) which revolutionized photography in the 1930s. He closed down his lens opening (hence the f64) and lengthened his exposures to ten seconds (to minutes in some cases) in order to create landscapes whose sharp definition was astounding. He and his sons used this general technique of small opening/long exposure during the building of the bridges... (Dillon, High Steel, p. 14).
The Moulin documentation of the construction of both the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate is well recorded. Peter Stackpole took dramatic shots, as did Ted Huggins for Standard Oil Company, while George Dixon buzzed the spans periodically to provide aerial shots for Tidewater Associated Company. But the men who best recorded the bridge construction, and converted photo-documentation into art, were commercial photographers Gabriel, Irving and Raymond Moulin of San Francisco. They were the official photographers: Moulin, pere et fils, were granted contracts by the State of California to document the day-by-day progress of construction. Typically, Gabriel and his sons refused to accept the job as routine. Sensing the challenge and drama of men-and-steel, brawn-and-iron, they did the best work of their careers. (ibid, p. 13).
The construction of the Bay Bridge was one of the most complex and innovative engineering feats in bridge construction ever. Utilizing virtually every aspect of bridge construction, especially suspension, cantilever and truss designs and a tunnel, the Bay Bridge crosses 9,250 feet of deep water with its three bridges. A man-made island - the largest of its sort at the time - had to be constructed ("Moran's Island" named for Daniel E. Moran, the designer) which took more concrete to build than the Empire State Building. Overall the extent of the bridge's requirements is staggering: 200,000 tons of steel; 1,000,000 cubic yards of concrete; 1,300,000 barrels of cement and 22,000,000 rivets. In the midst of the depression it took 54,850,000 man-hours to construct at a cost of $78,000,000. 24 lives were lost in the three years and seven months it took from ground-breaking to opening day on October 23, 1936.
The Bay Bridge was designed by a team of over fifty engineers under the aegis of Charles H. Purcell (1883-1951), the State Highway Engineer. Thoughts of constructing a Bay Bridge began as early as 1916 but did not become public until 1921. Purcell's initial design began in 1930, assisted by Glenn B. Woodruff and Charles Andrew, both of whom headed the design team. The volumes contained in this lot had belonged to Woodruff.
The Moulin documentation of the construction of both the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate is well recorded. Peter Stackpole took dramatic shots, as did Ted Huggins for Standard Oil Company, while George Dixon buzzed the spans periodically to provide aerial shots for Tidewater Associated Company. But the men who best recorded the bridge construction, and converted photo-documentation into art, were commercial photographers Gabriel, Irving and Raymond Moulin of San Francisco. They were the official photographers: Moulin, pere et fils, were granted contracts by the State of California to document the day-by-day progress of construction. Typically, Gabriel and his sons refused to accept the job as routine. Sensing the challenge and drama of men-and-steel, brawn-and-iron, they did the best work of their careers. (ibid, p. 13).
The construction of the Bay Bridge was one of the most complex and innovative engineering feats in bridge construction ever. Utilizing virtually every aspect of bridge construction, especially suspension, cantilever and truss designs and a tunnel, the Bay Bridge crosses 9,250 feet of deep water with its three bridges. A man-made island - the largest of its sort at the time - had to be constructed ("Moran's Island" named for Daniel E. Moran, the designer) which took more concrete to build than the Empire State Building. Overall the extent of the bridge's requirements is staggering: 200,000 tons of steel; 1,000,000 cubic yards of concrete; 1,300,000 barrels of cement and 22,000,000 rivets. In the midst of the depression it took 54,850,000 man-hours to construct at a cost of $78,000,000. 24 lives were lost in the three years and seven months it took from ground-breaking to opening day on October 23, 1936.
The Bay Bridge was designed by a team of over fifty engineers under the aegis of Charles H. Purcell (1883-1951), the State Highway Engineer. Thoughts of constructing a Bay Bridge began as early as 1916 but did not become public until 1921. Purcell's initial design began in 1930, assisted by Glenn B. Woodruff and Charles Andrew, both of whom headed the design team. The volumes contained in this lot had belonged to Woodruff.