Category Archives: Photographs: New York City

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Pedestrian, Painted Wall

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Pedestrian, Painted Wall
A pedestrain walks past designs painted on a brick wall, Manhattan

Pedestrian, Painted Wall. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A pedestrain walks past designs painted on a brick wall, Manhattan

Photographing street art almost always raised an ethical question or two for me. At one end of the spectrum, when photographing what might be regarded as graphic vandalism I wonder if I’m contributing to defacement by potentially sharing it. Sometimes I forego the shot and on one or two occasions I have intentionally altered “tags” in post so that they are no longer recognizable. (Most often I leave them as they are.) At the other ends of this spectrum lies what I refer to as “street art” — work that stands on its own merits as a completed concept. At times it seems a bit strange to be making photographs of someone else’s art, yet these pieces figure in a few of my favorite photographs, just as my “je sui bleu” photograph from Paris.

This bright and colorful display, contrasting with the rather gritty Manhattan surroundings, fit into the second category. It is visually interesting on its own, but just photographing someone else’s visually interesting creation seems like a less than creative act. So here, as in some other photographs of mine, I treat it as part background and part subject. It becomes, in my view, part of a visual geometry in the scene and also one element of a set of contrasting components. It also becomes the stage for passing pedestrians, such as the fellow in this image. (I have one other photograph of this scene, but with a small group of passers-by. That one may also eventually see the light of day.)

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

Mirrored Street Scene

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Mirrored Street Scene
Manhattan winter street scene mirrored in building windows.

Mirrored Street Scene. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Manhattan winter street scene mirrored in building windows.

One thing I enjoy about street photography is that often — though not always, believe it or not — tends to work quite differently than my landscape photography. When things start to happen, they often happen very quickly, and there can be so much to sort out quickly that it may almost be overwhelming. And there are plenty of missed opportunities — despite the fact that I know that I often can’t wait for a thing to happen. That would be too late, so often I have to photograph almost speculatively, preparing for what may happen as much as responding to what is happening.

There’s a lot of those things in this photograph, made on a recent winter visit to Manhattan. When I’m in “”photographer mode” there I usually have a small rangefinder-style camera out and held down low in one hand, ready to quickly raise it and make a photograph. Sometimes there isn’t even time to bring the viewfinder to my eye, and I photograph blind. That wasn’t the case with this photograph, though I did have to work pretty quickly. I think that I noticed the colorful umbrella on the food cart at almost the same moment that I realized the the windows produced an almost-mirror image of the scene, and then I had just time to start photographing as the two colorfully-dressed people walked toward me. It wasn’t until after the shot that I started to see other interesting form and color relationships and more.

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

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: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

6th Avenue At Night

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6th Avenue At Night
6th Avenue at 26th street, photographed at night from a Manhattan hotel

6th Avenue At Night. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

6th Avenue at 26th street, photographed at night from a Manhattan hotel.

Hotel rooms in big urban centers may offer interesting perspectives for photography.(If you get lucky! If you get that room where the window faces… the elevator shaft, not so much. We have gotten lucky a few times. One memorable occasion was in Paris. We went to our room on a lower floor of our Montemartre hotel… to discover cigarette smoke wafting through the room and someone else’s unpacked baggage. We went back down to the desk, where the horrified employee immediately upgraded us to a top floor room… from which I was able to photograph the Eifel tower across a foreground of Paris rooftops.

We didn’t have that sort of luck on our recent December 2019 visit to Manhattan, but our 20th story room did offer an interesting view of the night action along a section of 6th Avenue that ran past the hotel. Shot without a tripod, I simply used a high ISO and lightly braced the camera agains the window to get sufficient stability for the shot.

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

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

Photographs: New York City

New York Bay, Sunset

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New York Bay, Sunset
A winter sunset over New York Bay, photographed from sixty floors up.

New York Bay, Sunset. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A winter sunset over New York Bay, photographed from sixty floors up.

When it comes to visiting New York City we have one advantage — both of our sons and their wives live there, so rather than relying on visitor guides and similar resources we often have our own personal guides to the city. As a result we end up visiting places and seeing things that we probably would not otherwise experience. This afternoon and evening provide an excellent example.

We began with a long walk. We started at Grand Central Station, where we met our eldest, and from there we started south, following a route that he picked, though neighborhoods that we likely would have otherwise missed. (Though along the way we also traversed some familiar terrain.) Eventually we made it to almost the southern end of Manhattan, where we met up with his wife plus our other son and his wife for drinks at Manhatta, a 60th floor restaurant high above the city. I don’t know if it was their plan or not, but we arrived there and looked out the windows at this stunning sunset panorama. (On the other side of the building there was an equally amazing view north over Manhattan.) From this stunning perch we descended back to the streets below for dinner and the unpretentious but delicious Xi’an Famous Foods restaurant.

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.

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