Ben. are you asking if there is a way to find files (images) through the metadata?
If you select an image, then goto File and scroll down to File Info, there appear to be several different ways to add info to each file with names. locations, etc. You can set the same metadata for several files. Then later you can select the files that have the same metadata settings. I think this is set up so that you can process a lot of images at once that need similar things done to them, but it might also be a way for you to Find Files later for whatever reason..
I think there are several different ways of finding files through keywords, collections, favorites, folders, and content that can be chosen under Edit, then Find (Control (PC) or Command F (Mac))
I think Bridge tries to set up a lot of options so that files can later be found quickly.
In truth, I am not sure whether this is helpful for you or not. Maybe I am just stating the obvious which you already know.