Category Archives: Photographs: Germany

Red Wall

Red Wall
A person walks in front of a painted section of the Berlin Wall

Red Wall. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A person walks in front of a painted section of the Berlin Wall

Before I say much about this photograph, a bit of background. Near the start of August 2018 we departed from California’s West Coast on a trip that would last forty days. We started with a brief visit to New York City, followed by another brief visit to London — both great places to visit and to adapt more slowly to the time zone changes. From there we made a rough loop that took us to Amsterdam, Berlin, Nuremberg (briefly!), Bayreuth (site of the famous Wagner festival), Heidelberg (for rest and recuperation… and laundry!), Vienna, Paris, and then a week outside of Paris near Barbizon with family. Whew! It was a great trip, with a few familiar places and some that were new to us. Along the way we had lots of opportunities to make photographs, and I’ll be starting to share some of them over the next few weeks and months.

We had three full days (four nights) in Berlin, a city that neither of us had visited before. We don’t travel with tour groups, so we were mostly on our own to explore, and most of our exploring was done on foot. On our last full day we headed east from where we were staying, eventually making our way to the “East Side Gallery.” This is a large section of the Berlin Wall that was not knocked down, but instead turned into a vast canvas for artists. My approach to photographing such a thing isn’t precisely to photograph the art itself, but instead to try to place it in its surroundings and/or photograph people interacting with it — which is the case with this man dressed in red who walked in front of this red section of the former “red” wall.


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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 and Amazon.
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Hauptstrasse, Heidelberg Altstadt

Hauptstrasse, Heidelberg Altstadt
Pedestrians walking along a street in the Heidelberg altstadt

Hauptstrasse, Heidelberg Altstadt. Heidelberg, Germany. August 16, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pedestrians walking along a street in the Heidelberg Altstadt

During last summer’s stay in Heidelberg we managed to walk over the hill, up the river, and across the bridge quite a few times to get to the Altstadt. Yes, it is a bit touristy, especially on the main street, but it is also a wonderful place with narrow streets and old buildings and lots of people.

I don’t recall the specific context of this photograph, but it was one of a series made along this street and others nearby in which I waited as people walking into and out of the scene, populating this urban landscape. The low afternoon sun produced long shadows as several people walked up the street and further away from me.


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

Heidelberg Altstadt, Neckar River

Heidelberg Altstadt, Neckar River
The Heidelberg Altstadt and schloss, Neckar River

Heidelberg Altstadt, Neckar River. Heidelberg, Germany. August 15, 2016. © Copyright 201 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The Heidelberg Altstadt and schloss, Neckar River

From where we stay when we visit Heidelberg it is not a long walk to the Heidelberg Altstadt. We hike up a hill via the Philosophenweg, traverse the hillside above the Neckar River (from which the views of the old town are beautiful), descent a steep walkway, and cross a bridge… and we are there.

I made the photograph from this pathway, stopping at a spot where the vegetation is a bit thinner and the view a bit more open. The Neckar River flows past in the foreground, and the footbridge is the route we take across the water to the old town. The castle is on the more distant hill beyond the altstadt.


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

Altdeutsche Weinstube

Altdeutsche Weinstube
A small child on the sidewalk passes in front of Altdeutsche Weinstube

Altdeutsche Weinstube. Heidelberg, Germany. August 15, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small child on the sidewalk passes in front of Altdeutsche Weinstube

I must have made this photograph while walking up one of the back streets of the altstadt, a few blocks over from the popular main street. I simply grabbed the photograph and moved on, so I don’t know much of anything about the building aside from what I can see in the photograph. (A check of Google Maps suggests that whatever business was in there may now be closed.)

The building itself was fascinating to me, with its badly weathered brightly colored pain and the old script painted signs (partially painted over) on the wall. The small child walking by at that moment — and alone! — was a bonus in many ways. Among them is the strange sense of scale that he provides. Either he is a very tiny child or, more likely, the scale of the building is a bit larger than we might think.


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 and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | LinkedIn | Email


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