Category Archives: Photographs: People

Conservation/Environment, Photographs: England, Photographs: People, Photographs: Urban/Street

Pedestrian and Cyclist

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Pedestrian and Cyclist
Pedestrian and cyclist on walkway in front of the Tate Modern, London

Pedestrian and Cyclist. London, United Kingdom. August 7, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pedestrian and cyclist on walkway in front of the Tate Modern, London

We were well into our stay in London in the summer of 2016 when we finally got around to going to the Tate Modern, where there was an exhibit of paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe. I think we waited because she is American, we’ve seen shows of her work a lot, and we probably wondered how new the work would be in a London show. Because of our (misguided!) thinking, we ended up here with only a few hours to spend — only to discover that this was the most extensive collection of O’Keeffe’s work that we had seen in one place and that we didn’t have nearly enough time to see it all.

At one point, perhaps while waiting for our turn to enter the exhibit, we stepped out onto a balcony that was open to the landscaped area between the museum and the River Thames, where there were many pedestrians and a few cyclists. If I watch long enough I find that the passers-by sometimes assemble themselves into interesting groupings and patterns, so I indulged myself in a little bit of overhead photography, looking down from my high perch. The walkway took on a striking blue color in the shadow of the building, lit by the gigantic blue light panel of the sky as a walker and a cyclist approached one another.

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

London Sidewalk

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London Sidewalk
People along an urban sidewalk, London

London Sidewalk. London, England. August 5, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

People along an urban sidewalk, London

Sometimes with street photographs I do not quite know exactly what it is that appeals to me even though I know that the appeal is there. Perhaps part of the appeal of street photography, at least with some of the subjects, is that I have to response very quickly and almost entirely on the basis of intuition — often without even enough time to immediately consider the photograph I just made. It is look, photograph, move on, look some more. I may not “see” the photograph as an image again until much later… and even then it may be hard to identify the specific appeal in the image.

I barely recall making this photograph, in fact. I think I was crossing a street and about to come up on the sidewalk, and I’m willing to bet that the dark clad fellow with the headphones on was my primary point of interest. Judging from the low camera angle, I also suspect that I was photographing quickly from the waist, without even taking the time to raise the camera to my eye. (I kind of like this angle — it suggests photographs with classic twin lens reflex cameras.) There are other things about which I could speculate… but I think I’ll just leave it here as a photograph.

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.

Photographs: People, Photographs: Southern California, Photographs: Urban/Street

Pizza Shop

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Pizza Shop
Customers wait for pizza at a Pasadena pizza shop

Pizza Shop. Pasadena, California. January 6, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Customers wait for pizza at a Pasadena pizza shop

Once again I interrupt the sequence of nature photographs, wildlife, and landscapes to bring you… a photograph inside pizza restaurant. I know that this range of subjects is a stretch for some viewers, but I hope it may be possible to see it all as part of my way of seeing the world. Early on the day I posted this it occurred that my background in music may offer at least a partial explanation. I’ve played (at least “played,” back when I was an active performer) in everything from bands performing in clubs, through jazz bands, to music theater, and on to symphony orchestras. I see no need to give up jazz because I may like Mahler, and I see no need to eschew photographing the city just because I also find beauty in the natural world.

So, back to our pizza restaurant. We were out walking about in Pasadena, really without any particular goal in mind — which is, I think, often a good way to make street photography. I photographed this scene through the restaurant window, and the tableaux just seemed to happen. I started out considering a piece of restaurant equipment visible in the window, but when I looked more closely I was this layout of pizza, the line-up of waiting customers, and what seems like idiosyncratic interior decoration.

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.

Photographs: Events, Photographs: People

Girls Rule

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Girls Rule
Mom and daughter in pink at the San Jose Women’s March

Girls Rule. San Jose, California. January 21, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mom and daughter in pink at the San Jose Women’s March

I have shared — and will continue to share more of — my large collection of photographs from events during the weekend of the 2017 Women’s March, including “Bridge Together Golden Gate” on Friday, January 20 and the San Jose Women’s March on Saturday, January 21. All in all, this was a remarkable weekend. In particular the nationwide — and even international — events of the Women’s Walk were, as far as I can tell, unprecedented. On the day after the inauguration of a president whose election has exposed deep divisions in my country, millions of Americans took to the streets to say that things are not OK and that they will not be ignored. And the demonstrations, organized by women, brought more widespread participation than anything like them that I can recall.

My photographs that mostly document the event will be shared in a separate gallery that I posted earlier this weekend. However, some of the photographs have, it seems to me, “legs” as visual images apart from their function as records. I’m going to share some of them as my photographs of the day periodically over the next few weeks. Among the many remarkable things I saw at the Women’s March, there was a kind of torch passing between generations, from an older generation that experienced the struggles around the Vietnam War or even the Civil Rights movement to their daughters and on to granddaughters. I saw numerous groups where all three generations were represented. I photographed this mother and daughter (or so I assume) as the crowd was gathering more than an hour before the march of 25,000 people began.

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 | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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