Category Archives: Photographs: Structures and Objects

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Window, San Francisco

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Window, San Francisco
A window covered with security bars

Window, San Francisco. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A window covered with security bars.

If this were my window — on this particular street, in this particular position, in this particular city — I suppose that I would install a security system like this, too. (It isn’t exactly a “bad” area, but it is one where many thousands of people walk past daily, and the window is right along the sidewalk.)

But that’s not really why I made the photograph. I thought the gently suffused lighting was attractive, and I liked the combination of colors, shapes, and light and shadow. Aside from whatever intrinsic value or meaning this photograph may (or may not) have, it is another example of the fact that there are things to see everywhere, and that, in my view, photographing them is a useful way to “tune up” your ability to see things that not everyone might notice.

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: Architecture, Photographs: Germany, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Windows, Oblique Light

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Windows, Oblique Light
The shadows of windows in oblique lighting on a Berlin building

Windows, Oblique Light. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The shadows of windows in oblique lighting on a Berlin building.

You might regard this as “what happens when they let landscape photographers do street photography.” For me, street photography combines a bunch of possible components — the human element, the crystallization of a “moment,” the light and color and patterns, and the nature of urban landscape. I do think of the urban scene as a landscape, and in some ways — though not all! — I approach it that way. (Depending on how far you want to go with that thought… it does have “valleys,” and “faces,” and “peaks,” and even flora and wildlife.)

We had spent the day walking through parts of Berlin, starting at our hotel a way off from the central city, heading past the East Side Gallery area of the Wall, then walking back toward the central area of the Brandenburg Gate. As we got closer to this center we improvised a route that did not take the largest, most popular streets, and it a few places we ended up in rather non-touristy spots. I’d have to go back and consult a map to see precisely where this was photographed, but I was intrigued by the minimalist quality of the architecture, the shadows cast by the protruding window frames, and the contrast between the warm red-brown tones of the wall and the cool blue tones of the windows — and even a resonance with the landscapes of the American Southwest.

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: Architecture, Photographs: England, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Blue Door

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Blue Door
A blue door in gentle light and surrounded by a monumental door frame, London

Blue Door. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A blue door in gentle light and surrounded by a monumental door frame, London

A door, somewhere in London, but I’m now not sure where! I could probably come closer to locating it if I were to go back through the rest of the raw files from this day, but I think it may have been near our hotel, which was a short walk from Paddington Station and not far at all from Hyde Park. I know that we went out more than once for walks in this area, including the morning when I believe I made the photograph.

The doorway seems remarkable to me in several ways. The huge framing is quite something, and not much at all like anything you would typically see in the US, at least not in my part of the country. The frame is so monumental that it has the effect of either making the doorway seem twice as large as it really is… or of making the actual door seem very small. The color of the door is beautiful and something of a surprise given the other colors in the scene. And the light striking the door obliquely from the left seems very beautiful to me.

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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.

Photographs: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Two Buildings, Night

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Two Buildings, Night
“Two Buildings, Night” — Night photograph of two buildings in the historic core of Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

One of the attractions of photographing at night is the way that everything changes and familiar and even mundane subjects can be transformed. Night almost automatically adds an element of mystery to subjects, even when the literal subjects might arguably be mundane. This is partly the natural associations we make with the night, but it is also the objective nature of the light — rather than working under the sun or other forms of light from the sky, we rely almost always on multiple point sources of artificial illuminations. (And exception would be working under full moon light, but that has its own implications.)

I made this photograph in the “historic core” area of the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard in Vallejo, California. For the most part many of the original structures still stand in this area. (Much more extensive redevelopment has occurred elsewhere on the island, some of which has removed the old facilities.) Here some of the buildings have been updated and put to use for more modern purposes, but the general feeling of the place remains. I have photographed in this little alley-way for about fifteen years now. Somethings stay the same and other change, and on this visit I found that I was able to use the new corner windows on the foreground building as a point of focus.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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