Pedestrians And Colorful Wall. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pedestrians walk past a colorfully-painted wall in Manhattan.

Photographing street art, graffiti, and other things created by others on the walls of urban spaces, often poses an issue or two for me. In some cases I have to ask myself if photographing certain examples might have the potential to encourage what could be regarded by some as vandalism. In other cases where the work was placed by permission or in a location where the unspoken rules allow it I still have to ask myself whether I am creating something or just recording someone else’s creative work. So I rarely photograph such things “as is,” instead looking to use them as part of my own take on a scene, and often letting passers-by populate the composition.

Perhaps because its bold design and colors were so much in contrast to the somewhat drab and even dark Manhattan surroundings, this example caught my attention right away. But, as per the above, I wasn’t really interested in just photographing the wall. So I employed a strategy that I often use when photographing street — I find a “street landscape” and with for the urban wildlife (e.g. “people”) to populate it in ways I find interesting. I have to work quickly since these subjects don’t stand still, but I hope to find interesting characters, interesting placing of the figures, relationships to that background landscape, and more.

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

Walking Couple, Brick Wall. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A couple walks along a brick wall at a Manhattan church on a winter afternoon.

There is, for this non-native, a feeling that is evoked by New York City in the winter — compared to California (where it is the green season) the place seems very gray, at least in its exterior and outdoor spaces. There aren’t many hours of daylight, the direct sun is blocked by tall buildings during most of the day, and winter weather amplifies the effect. As an aside, I’m also struck by how much different the interior spaces are — even in a cold, drab building with the obligatory garbage sacks sitting on the curb, the interiors are often warm and inviting.

On this afternoon walk from roughly Midtown to Lower Manhattan on a late-December afternoon these qualities were plain to see. There isn’t a green thing in this scene, only some winter-bare trees. Everything is made of bricks or concrete, and in this scene three colors predominate — the reds and browns of bricks, the gray of the sidewalk and the sky, and the bits of black of the doorway and, of course, the attire of the passing figures.

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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.

Blog | About | 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.

Three Guys, Crosswalk. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Three men crossing a Manhattan street, looking into the light.

One thing I like about photographing in New York City — or, for that matter, in any really busy urban area — is that challenge of picking subject out in the very dynamic environment. Once you tune it to it there are things happening all around you, often so fast that you barely have time to react… and you are absolutely certain to miss a good number of them. It requires a very different approach to photographing than one might use for, say, landscape photography. Not only that, but honing this alternative and fast approach, actually has benefits for other kinds of photography like, say, landscape photography!

There are so many potential angles that one can focus on when shooting street. It could be the people themselves. It might be the light. It may be color and texture. It could be compositional interest. Sometimes it is spontaneous relationships between elements that suddenly appear and this disappear. That was the case here. I already had the camera out and was photographing passing people when, for a brief instant, the three men in the cross walk glanced to the side at the same moment.

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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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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