Category Archives: Photographs: Architecture

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Spain

Arches and Columns

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Arches and Columns
Arches and columns in the Mosque-Cathedral, Cordoba.

Arches and Columns. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Arches and columns in the Mosque-Cathedral, Cordoba.

Yes, I am most emphatically not in the Sierra Nevada of California this summer! House-sitters engaged, tickets purchased, reservations made… and we are now three weeks into a grand adventure. (It is also a rather hot adventure, but I’ll save that story for later.) I will not post photographs all the time as we travel, as I’d rather spend the time doing the traveling than post-processing photographs. But from time to time I’ll share a few that I think might interest readers.

We just spent a few days in Cordoba, Spain, where our main goal was to visit the Mosque-Cathedral. I cannot begin to describe the site in a way that does it justice, but it is among the most remarkable places I have ever visited. The deep history it contains, and the blending of influences from Islam and Catholicism, are deeply thought-provoking. It is filled with too many beauties and connections to fully understand it in a short visit — but don’t miss the opportunity if you ever have the chance to go.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Upper West Side

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Upper West Side
Steps leading to residences on the Upper West Side, Manhattan

Upper West Side. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Steps leading to residences on the Upper West Side, Manhattan

Recently I’ve been sharing a steady stream of landscape photographs, most of which came from trips to photograph fall color on the east and west coasts. We were in the East twice in recent months, and both times took us to somewhat more rural areas of New England — southern Vermont in August and New Hampshire (and a bit more Vermont) in October. But both times we include some time in New York City. That lengthy introduction is all by way of warning you that there’s some Manhattan urban and street photography coming up!

I start gently with this photograph, one that you might even think of as a sort of “urban landscape.” We often stay at a place on the Upper West Side, a bit west of the Natural History Museum, since it is outside of the busiest parts of Manhattan, provides good subway access, and is closer to some folks in Northern Manhattan and the Bronx. We walk a lot while we’re there, and I photographed these steps in the neighborhood on one of those walks. The line-up of the steps intrigues me, but I also like the unusual palette of colors.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Reflection Deception

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Reflection Deception
The glass surface of a New York building reflects and distorts its surroundings.

Reflection Deception. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

The glass surface of a New York building reflects and distorts its surroundings.

Scenes like this are, of course, common in big urban centers that are filled with tall, modern buildings. This one comes from Manhattan. One striking difference between many new buildings and those from a much earlier era is that today the surfaces are often nearly 100% windows and, as such, the buildings are extremely reflective. A few years ago it occurred to me how odd it is that what we see when we look at these buildings today is mostly not the buildings at all. The building is essentially invisible beyond the slender outlines of frames between windows. The “surface” we see is composed of other things — sky, clouds, other buildings — that are distorted by the qualities of the reflective surface. (I have an idea for a photo project: Remove all of the reflective surfaces from images of these buildings, leaving only the minimal structural elements that are actually visible.)

These buildings are one reason that I often refer to these places and photographs of them as “urban landscapes. There is a continuum in landscape photography. At one end lies subjects that are entirely “natural” — or at least seem to be so. Somewhere in between we enter the realm of historic landscape paintings, in which it was common to include the human presence. Continue along that trajectory far enough, and it is possible to see cities as being just a different sort of landscape, and that way of seeing leads to different ways of photographing them.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Beneath the Parkway

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Beneath the Parkway
Support structures under the Henry Hudson Parkway, Manhattan.

Beneath the Parkway. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Support structures under the Henry Hudson Parkway, Manhattan.

While things in New York City are not as grim as they were during the height of the pandemic, nor as bad as when we visited during the Omicron surge last winter, things are not yet completely back to normal. A lot better, yes. But when we visited in August the effects were still clear. People were back in the streets, but the crowds weren’t nearly as dense as before. And we still hesitated to go to some of the more crowded places that we enjoyed previously. So, on this afternoon we found ourselves killing time between a couple of planned events, so we took a walk over to and along a section of the Hudson River shoreline.

In this location sidewalks, paths, and stairs can take you down from the city itself of a riverside walkway and park, so we headed on down to join the others out for a walk, a run, or a bike ride. As the path descended it approached the base of this old structure that supports the parkway running along the waterfront. In a world of modern, sweeping and curving reinforced concrete structures, it is fun and interesting to come across older steel structures like this one.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.