In steps of Vertigo

With this picture I'm adding a new label –movie locations. Ever since I first saw Vertigo I have been fascinated with San Francisco, and when I finally had the chance to visit that beautiful city one of the things I was determined to do was to seek out the locations featured in the film. Though it had been made in the late 1950s most of the places were almost unnervingly the same 50 years later –which of course increased my fascination and made the film come even more alive. Here, at the edge of Fort Point just below the Golden Gate, Kim Novak's character threw herself into the bay, only to be rescued by James Stewart. When I saw the film originally I assumed that the bridge view was a vast painted backdrop –it somehow seemed too surreal in colour and perspective. But it wasn't, it was perfectly real. Yet I felt the same sense of surreality when I took this picture –making it as close as I could to the original shot. The only difference from 1958 was that a fence had been erected at the edge of the fort. I can take no credit for composing the shot –that was after all done by Hitchcock and his cinematographer, but I was nonetheless thrilled with the result. Even without Kim Novak. Location: San Francisco, USA