Category Archives: Photographs: People

Twins

Twins
Twin sisters and other pedestrians along a Manhattan sidewalk.

Twins. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Twin sisters and other pedestrians along a Manhattan sidewalk.

Given that many people have had it much harder than I have during the pandemic, I can’t really complain. However, recently I’ve been missing travel (at least of the urban sort) and large crowds of people along busy streets, on transit, in restaurants, at concerts. I’m especially missing New York and its crazy energy. We have relatives there and typically visit a couple of times each year… but the last visit was in December of 2019, just months before everything shut down. I think that the short-lived feeling that we were emerging from all of this in the early summer has interfered with the optimism that we were starting to feel. This will eventually be behind us, but it is going to take longer than we hoped.

I grabbed this little street vignette in Manhattan during that last visit. When I saw these two women approaching — apparently twins, wearing the same clothes and carrying nearly identical bags — I quickly squeezed off a single frame here they were gone. Technically, it was a terrible photograph! It was badly tilted and not framed very well. But with some post-processing magic I think I was able to make it work. I wonder… is there a pair of twins like this in every big city? There were two women in San Francisco for years who went out dressed identically just like this.


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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Pointing The Way

Pointing The Way
A man in holiday attire gives directions to a pedestrian in Manhattan.

Pointing The Way. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A man in holiday attire gives directions to a pedestrian in Manhattan.

This photograph was what I think of as a classic street photography “snap,” grabbed quickly while on the move past the subjects on a Manhattan sidewalk. Based on my recall of the moment and the low position of the camera, it is pretty likely that I make the exposure without even raising the camera to my eye, possibly not having time to do so and/or wanting to avoid creating my own intrusion on the scene.

If you like such subjects, there are a lot of different ways to “see” them as photographs. In this one there is the unusual attire of the fellow, who I suspect is a security guard working outside this building — during the holiday season such people must occasionally wear bright red shirts, Santa hats, and holiday light necklaces, which is not your typical security guard attire. He looms large in the frame — he is taller than the women, she stands further away and to the side, and his pointing motion gives him an active demeanor. I also like certain compositional aspects of the photograph, and I simply find the two people to be fascinating.


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.

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

Brandon In Manhattan

Brandon In Manhattan
Brandon Mitchell on the streets of Manhattan

Brandon In Manhattan. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Brandon on the streets of Manhattan.

This is, technically speaking, a family photograph. This is the oldest of our three “kids,” in a photograph I made near the end of December, along some street somewhere between Midtown and Lower Manhattan as we took a very long afternoon and early evening walk in New York City.

He has been in Manhattan for, well I’d have to look it up so let’s just say “a long time.” Could it have been a decade now? Because our two sons and their wives (along with Patty’s brother and his family) live in New York City, we are fortunate to have an excellent excuse to visit the place at least once per year or so. While it is impossible for visitors like us to really know the place, we feel comfortable with great swaths of this city now, and it is among my favorite places to 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.

Blog | About | Flickr | FacebookEmail

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.

Balloon Vendor

Balloon Vendor
A Manhattan street vendor selling balloons.

Balloon Vendor. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A Manhattan street vendor selling balloons.

There was a lot going on in the vicinity of this colorful little Manhattan scene. It was a few days after Christmas, during the period between then and New Year’s Day when it seems that tourists and other visitors take over the sidewalks and streets of New York City, at least in the most popular areas. This is one of those areas, right near Rockefeller Center. Basically, the sidewalks were packed with people and at times it was difficult to move forward.

Along this block there were many street vendors, selling the usual assortment of Manhattan items: cheap knock-off watches, umbrellas and warm hats, food, souvenir shirts, and balloons. The balloons, leaning into the passing crowd, were quite a colorful diversion. That aside, as I see the street vendors I always wonder who they are, how they make a living doing this, and what sort of lives they must lead… and how all of that fits together in a place like Manhattan.


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 | FacebookEmail

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.


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