Category Archives: Photographs: People

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: France, Photographs: People, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Three Parisiens

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Three Parisiens
“Three Parisiens” — Three people walk along a street in Le Marais, Paris.

There is a story about this wall that I’ll share in the second paragraph. The photograph comes from the Le Marais district of Paris, where we were out for a walk in early December. It uses one of the classic approaches to street photography, namely finding an interesting street landscape and waiting for people to walk into the frame and populate it. This can lead to a lot of photos of the sides of people, but here it helps that the person in the lead has glanced in my direction.

About that story… This wall is the location of one of my favorite photographs that I have made in Paris. It features three (likely related) women in front of this wall… back when it was covered by some fascinating street art. (You can find the photo by searching for “je suis bleu” on my website.) This reinforces how transitory street subjects can be. Not only do people come and go, forming visual relationships that may last only an instant, but the street landscape itself changes over the seasons.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

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Photographs: Europe, Photographs: People, Photographs: Spain, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Street Vendor, Madrid

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“Street Vendor, Madrid” — A street vendor sits on his stool on the sidewalk by his wares at the El Rastro street market, Madrid.

Near the end of our December visit to Madrid we went on a long walk that took us to the famous El Rastro Sunday street/flea market in the Barrios de Embajadores area. From what I gather, this market has been going on for centuries. There is a small market square, but the main action takes place up and down nearby streets where scores of vendors are set up and thousands of shoppers completely fill the narrow streets.

If you like observing and photographing people and don’t mind working in close quarters, this event presents a plethora of visual opportunities. The market stalls are fascinating, as are the wildly diverse shoppers checking out them out. You can find almost anything here: clothes, toys, hats, cameras, phones, cookware, food, you name it. I photographed this vendor, sitting on a stool in an uncharacteristically minimalist “booth.”

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: England, Photographs: People, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Woman in Red, London

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Woman in Red, London
“Woman in Red, London” — :A woman in red sits on a ledg to check her phone in London.

I confess that I barely, if at all, remember making this photograph, nor can I say precisely where in London I made it. I grabbed it while in a particular mode of street photography that is the antithesis of how I might photograph, say, a landscape. I shoot handheld. I carry a small camera with a single small prime lens. I work very quickly, often not even slowing down to frame the subject, and continue on. In this case, I shot “blind,” holding the camera down at my side. (That created a little problem. More below.)

There are a few things about this photograph that could make some viewers a bit uneasy. First, I did not ask for permission and I doubt the subject was even aware that I made the photograph. There was no time, and if I had asked, the photograph would have been a very different thing. (BTW, sometimes I’m in public and I see that I might end up in someone’s photograph like this — and I remind myself that it is OK since I do it, too!) Second, the original image had a serious problem. It was badly tilted, perhaps as much as 20-degrees. I liked the image, but I had to crop radically to get the framing I wanted, and there were still problems. How did I fix it? For the first time, I allowed an AI tool to generate some content in the corners of the frame. Still not sure how I feel about that, but it seems worth experimenting with at least.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Europe, Photographs: People, Photographs: Spain, Photographs: Travel

Mercado de Triana

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Mercada de Triana
“Mercado de Triana” — A sale at a stall in the Mercada de Triana, Sevilla.

Keeping with our pattern of visiting Sevilla locations that we could walk to, on this morning we headed across the canal (“Canal de Alfonso XIII”) on a convenient bridge, leaving behind the old town near the cathedral and entering a not-quite-so-old town across the water. There was much to see here, too, including guests arriving for a fancy wedding at a church, lots of locals out for a morning walk, shops and stores geared bit less to the tourist trade, and the Mercado De Triana.

There are, of course, LOTS of markets in European cities. Their size and focus varies. Some are gigantic and attract large crowds of visitors, perhaps less for the available produce and more for the prepared food options and souvenirs. This little market is closer to the traditional market end of the spectrum. For the most part the stalls are unassuming and seem to feature actual produce, meats, seafood, and so on. (There is one spot that offers cooking lessons that seems more tourist-oriented.) We stopped in for coffee and breakfast, then strolled the market, watching the morning activities.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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