Ruins of Sutro Baths

The Sutro Baths were constructed in 1894. The site had an ocean pool aquarium and a massive public bathhouse that could accommodate 10.000 people at one time. A classic Greek portal opened to a grandiose glass enclosure containing seven swimming pools at various temperatures. There were slides, trapezes, springboards and a high dive. The power of the Pacific Ocean during high tide could fill the 1.7 million gallons of water required for all the pools in just one hour. Over the decades the baths’ popularity declined. The end came in 1966 when a fire destroyed the structure.

This photo was taken by a Zenza Bronica S2 medium format film camera and Nikkor-H 1:3.5 f=5 cm lens with a Hoya HMC 82mm Y[K2] filter using Ilford HP5 Plus 400 film, the negative scanned by an Epson Perfection V600 and digitally rendered using Photoshop.