Category Archives: Photographs: Architecture

Fly Space Rigging

Fly Space Rigging
Fly Space Rigging

Fly Space Rigging. San Jose, California. March 23, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Looking straight up into the fly space of the California Theater, San Jose

As I work on my three-year project photographic classical musicians, I spend a lot of time around their rehearsal and performance spaces. In addition to photographing the people, I have also photographed the environment within which they work, and not always the obvious parts that are visible to those who attend concerts and see the formal appearance of the stage.

A lot of interesting things exist in the backstage world. In contrast to the stage itself, at least as viewed from the perspective of the audience, this is a world seems as much industrial as artistic, but even that “industrial” aspect is an interesting combination of some very modern technology (such as lighting and sound systems) and some very old technology (the equipment for hoisting sets and other equipment on and off the stage). This photograph looks straight up into that equipment and the catwalk near the highest point in the backstage fly space.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Warehouse Wall

Warehouse Wall
Warehouse Wall

Warehouse Wall. San Francisco, California. June 13, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Warehouse wall, door, and window on a San Francisco pier

Photographed on one of my morning walks around portions of downtown San Francisco, this is a scene from one of the piers along the San Francisco Bay waterfront. I had made a looping walk from the Caltrain station over around portions of China Basin, eventually making my way to the old waterfront area where I photograph dilapidated piers that are decaying and falling into the Bay. Finishing with that subject, I started back along the waterfront and soon came to the entrance to this very large and active pier, and I decided to wander out onto it since there was a marked pedestrian walkway.

The first section of the pier has a roadway up the center, and it is lined with warehouse structures with loading docks and garage doors. The scene is spare and industrial, and the light was coming across the structures from the side and highlighting details and textures. Here I like the disembodied shapes of the window and roll-up door.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Concrete Landscape

Concrete Landscape
Concrete Landscape

Concrete Landscape. San Francisco, California. June 13, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A curving freeway ramp encircles a downtown building in the urban landscape of San Francisco

Another morning trip to San Francisco, another walk through the City, and another photograph of urban landscapes. This photograph is from a mid-June morning walk that started at the Caltrain station, headed over toward China Basin, and then ambled back toward Market Street before looping back to the trains station.

Several freeways cut through this section of downtown San Francisco: 101 on its north-south route, 280 arriving from the Peninsula, and 80 connecting to the East Bay. Here the freeway is high above the city, which has the advantage of keeping city streets open but the disadvantage of creating a large path of somewhat seeding “beneath the freeway” areas and sometimes forcing the city itself to conform to the contours and paths of the highways. In some cases the result can be interesting, and in this location where this strange landscape of vertical columns and nested curves is the result.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Gated Pier

Gated Pier
Gated Pier

Gated Pier. San Francisco, California. June 13, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A metal gate blocks the entrance to a pier along San Francisco Bay

This is another in the recent series of photographs made along the San Francisco waterfront, walking along various less-visited areas and occasionally poking my head into places that are more industrial than tourism oriented. I’d have to review more closely to remember for certain, but I believe this one was in the China Basin waterfront area.

As I walked slowly along this section of the waterfront I paused frequently to photograph buildings and other features of the area. This is an area in transition, and taken as a whole this part of the waterfront ranges from old and dilapidated, through working piers, and right on up to remodeled and updated areas reoriented towards business or tourism. By comparison to some of the older working piers, this one seems awfully neat and clean, with the exception of some fabric pushed up against the wall at the far left. The stark lines and stark morning light, open to the vast sky above the bay caught my attention.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.