#RoeblingWednesday: Instagram, instant recognition
Dave Schmidt is a local photographer who goes by CincyGram on Instagram. He's got 17,200 followers and is seen as one of the de facto leaders of the Cincinnati IG (Instagram) community.
He's also the man behind #RoeblingWednesday.
The John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge is one of Cincinnati's icons. Maybe the icon. When it was built, the Roebling was also the longest in the world, spanning 1,057 feet. Predating its more popular copy, the Brooklyn Bridge by 17 years, the Roebling Suspension Bridge has hung on its strapping suspenders since 1866. Though originally brown, the cables were painted their now trademark blue in 1896.
Now, like everything embraced by Millennials, it has its own hashtag: #RoeblingWednesday.
Click the hashtag on Instagram and 597 posts appear. All include the bridge. Some are girlfriends posing. One is a giant Saint Bernard dog licking his own snout. It counts because dog and owner were walking the bridge. It has gotten 49 likes.
But most treat the bridge as a work of art and Instagram as a medium through which to show it off.
A fantastic view of the grated track on the bridge, taken from dead-center on the double-yellow, grabbed 358 likes. It's beautiful.
A snap by Instagrammer Palms.Up highlights the bridge's blue hues and lights up its bulwarks at night.
Dave Schmidt's photo from last week was shot in what almost looks like black and white, but not quite, is a beauty, clocking in right now at 1,009 likes.
"With such a icon piece of history in our backyard, I felt like it deserved more attention," Schmidt said. "You can capture the Roebling in many different perspectives and composition."
He announced the #RoeblingWednesay hashtag last November. Since then, professional and amateur photographers alike have rallied around it.
"In my posting, I basically stated that we are lucky to have this iconic landmark. I have so many photographs of it I want to post, but I also challenged the community as well. I wanted to see how they see the Roebling," he said. "It was an instant hit."
Phil Armstrong is another Cincinnati photographer and fellow Instagrammer whose #RoeblingWednesday shots have also captured attention.
"Last year Dave contacted many of us fellow photographers within the Instagram network and told us he wanted to get a new weekly hashtag started for the Roebling. #RoeblingWednesday was born that week," Armstrong said.
"The highlight, for me, was posting an older photograph of the bridge that was taken from inside Rivercenter in Covington from years ago when I had a desk that overlooked it," he continued.
"I wasn't a photographer then, and the resolution isn't what I'd ideally like it to be, but it was nice to share something I'd been sitting on for all those years."
Cille Kissel is an Instagrammer on the #RoeblingWednesday trend. She moved to Cincinnati just three years ago, but talks about both the pull of the bridge and the community that Instagram hashtags build.
"While there are others that are important (#cincinnati, #cincygram, #cincy,) I consider #RoeblingWednesday the hashtag that holds the Cincy IGers (Instagrammers) together," Kissel said.
"Roebling Wednesday also a testament to the creativity and diversity of perspectives in the group since no single picture is the same."
Jason Bayer has been shooting professionally for eight years, but said it was the #RoeblingWednesday that really put him on the map with the Cincinnati Instagram community and since, has become friends with fellow photographers.
"People seem to really connect with the Roebling Bridge because it's just a beautiful structure and an icon for the city. When people see (it), they immediately relate to Cincinnati. And it truly never gets old to shoot as a photographer," Bayer said.
"When I need a great shot, the Roebling bridge is my go-to location."
For founder Schmidt, the bridge's pull never fades.
"I also challenge myself to bring a new perspective or edit to the photograph and the hashtag that will make others see how special this is to our community," he said.
But it doesn't stop at the Roebling.
Now that he's garnered a local following of photographers and fans alike, Schmidt sees the mighty hashtag as a way to bring some of the city's oldest landmarks back to life. Here's what he has planned:
There's #BigMacMonday (The Big Mac Bridge), #TerminalTuesday (Union Terminal), and #HallaBackThursday (That one's for the Music Hall).
"Last night, we decided to do another one," Schmidt said.
Coming soon, it's #FountainFriday, "a shout out to Fountain Square."
Below, check out some of our favorite snaps from past #RoeblingWednesdays:
https://instagram.com/p/2nqqIKo48u/
https://instagram.com/p/2WhrsykxPK/