James River Park System

Author's Comments

The thing about Richmond that takes a moment to register is that the river does not behave. Most cities have tamed their water by the time it reaches downtown, channeled it, walled it in. The James does not cooperate. It comes through the center of the city over Class IV rapids, breaking white against exposed granite, and the skyline sits behind all of this like a backdrop that wandered into the wrong photograph. I like the Pipeline Walk at golden hour in late September, when the water is low enough that the granite islands emerge and the herons work the shallows as if the city were not there at all. The light comes in sideways from the west and turns the rapids into something with real texture, not just motion. Texas Beach is the other argument, especially when the river drops and the slabs become foreground you can actually stand on. Shoot low. Let the granite lead the eye back to the buildings. This is not a pretty river. It is a working, muscular, complicated one, and the photographs it gives you tend to match. Come with a willingness to scramble a little, and shoes you do not mind getting wet.

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