OFATLANTA ‘Golden hour’ at the Jackson Street Bridge and its rise to prominence.

You may not know the Jackson Street Bridge, but you’ve been there.

In front of you, Atlanta’s downtown skyscrapers line up along Peachtree Street as if for a group photo, with midrise buildings kneeling in the front row. Lanes of traffic stretch out from beneath you, as if you’re floating 30 feet above rush hour. And above you, the Southern sky changes its mood almost by the minute.

The bridge is the perfect perch for the signature shot of the Atlanta skyline, and photographers have put you there by capturing that image many thousands of times.

“It has a beautiful silhouette,” says Lauren Holley, cofounder of the Atlanta Urban Photo Walkers meetup group. “It could almost be a logo for the city of Atlanta.”

Even with all that coverage over the years, the Jackson Street Bridge has lately become a bit of a phenomenon. The reason for that, like so many things that happen in Atlanta, is a combination of social media, the state DOT and, of course, zombies.

Bridge

The bridge was built just over 50 years ago as part of the interchange between the Downtown Connector and what’s now called Freedom Parkway. It was a time when intown neighborhoods paid a heavy price for the Georgia Department of Transportation’s vision of interconnected freeways cutting through — and cutting off — the city.

Photographers, of course, have been setting up their tripods by the bridge’s low rail since the 1960s. What’s changed within the past four years is the growth of Instagram, the ubiquity of cellphone cameras and, yes, the popularity of AMC’s “The Walking Dead.” The show overnight turned the bridge into a tourist attraction and an Internet meme when it used the skyline image for its premiere in 2010. (See our video examination of how the image was altered for the show at myAJC.com.)

Fans of the zombie show — the most popular cable television program of all time — have been coming to the bridge several times a week as part of Atlanta Movie Tours’ Big Zombie Tour. “Their eyes light up” when the bus pulls up, says tour owner Patti Davis. “It’s definitely the highlight of the tour.”

A meeting place

If you’ve been seeing much more of the bridge, the bridge has also been seeing much more of you, especially if you’re an Instagrammer or urban explorer. As Atlanta’s community of photographers has grown, the bridge has become a place — maybe the place — to make new acquaintances, to share tips or to hear about the next meetup.

“It’s almost a community forum, a meeting spot,” says Aaron Coury (@the_ atl_aaron on Instagram), one of the founders of the #weloveatl organization. Since 2012, #weloveatl has curated shows of local photography taken straight from Atlantans’ own Instagram feeds. The group, whose logo incorporates the Jackson Street Bridge vantage point, is best known for its “photography food truck,” a rolling gallery that’s as much a fixture at local arts festivals as a King of Pops cart. Sales of the photos displayed go toward the Atlanta Community Food Bank.

The organization also sponsors a meetup group about once a month, and it’s not the only group bringing local photographers together. Atlanta Urban Photo Walkers was co- founded by Lauren Holley on Meetup.com a year ago, with an emphasis on intown neighborhoods. Holley (@graphiknation) says her group can sometimes number up to 50 photographers in attendance.

In addition, individual photographers constantly pair up in different combinations to go exploring. Instagram, once considered just a photo-sharing app, is proving to be a powerful social-networking app as well. “I’ve met people I would’ve never met if it weren’t for Instagram,” says Christynne Papincak (@whyilove atl). “Once a week I try to meet up with someone because it’s so much more fun. Everyone sees things differently and has a differ- ent creative eye or brings different props.”

Scenes from a bridge

At dusk on one recent Saturday evening, Jacob Davidson was setting up for his first Jackson Street Bridge photo shoot. Davidson (@IJakeSays) has been shooting the Atlanta skyline for quite a while, but even he admitted being surprised that he had never gotten a shot from the bridge before.

On this evening, he would be taking long-exposure shots of the “light trails” created by cars as they entered and exited the Connector — resulting in white streaks in the left lanes and red streaks on the right. It’s a popular shot to get from the city’s bridges, and there’s a whole subgenre of nighttime long-exposure photography. As Holley puts it, “You can never have too much traffic. Traffic looks great on film.”

While Davidson set up his equipment, other photographers found their spots along the rail. Some came with friends, some with props, some hopped across the street to take photos of people taking photos. There was so much socializing that it was hard to tell who already knew each other and who was getting acquainted for the first time.

Smaller groups of selfie-takers would pop in and out at various times, hugging each other and saying “cheese” just long enough to get the shot and run back to their cars. In all, about 25 people would pass through during either the “golden hour,” when the sun is still low in the sky, or the “blue hour,” when the sky darkens and the tall buildings ignite their own glow. Several photographers mentioned staying later into the night, or maybe going exploring.

A picture-perfect spot

Despite the recent popularity of the Jackson Street Bridge on Instagram, Atlanta’s photographers aren’t jaded by it. “It’s a shot that’s been taken over and over again, but it’s one that you want to make sure you get yourself,” says Coury. “It almost becomes an addiction of, ‘Is this the best Jack- son Street shot I can get?’ I think that’s why you see the same people.”

Holley agrees. “I’ve photographed Jackson Street so many times and every time I go, I challenge myself to come up with an innovative and interesting way to take that picture,” she says.

It helps that the buildings are standing exactly where you’d want them to be. “The shot is already composed for you,” Coury says. “You literally put your phone up and take the shot.”

Atlanta’s topography has something to do with that as well.

The crown jewels of Atlanta’s downtown skyline run evenly along Peachtree Street, which runs straight

KEITH JACKSON / @KOOLESTKEITH Keith Jackson was born and raised in East Point. His Instagram feed includes many beautiful details of Atlanta that others have missed. And he — like residents and visitors alike — helps to uncover the view the bridge offers.