The composition is built around a large suspension bridge tower that stands to the right of the center. Bright orange cables and thin vertical wires pull the eye from this tower toward the top left corner of the frame. This colorful structure dominates the foreground from an elevated viewpoint, looking out over a wide body of water toward a distant city skyline and hills. While the bridge components are a vivid orange, the rest of the scene is rendered in black and white.

The distant city of San Francisco sits low on the horizon, appearing small behind the expanse of water. The hills of the far shore rise behind the buildings under a pale sky. Because the orange color is restricted only to the bridge tower and its wires, these metal elements stand out sharply against the grey tones of the Marin Headlands landscape and the water below.