Category Archives: Photographs: Travel

Photographs: Germany, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Doorway, Heidelberg

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Doorway, Heidelberg
A graffiti-covered doorway on a narrow Heidelberg street

Doorway, Heidelberg. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A graffiti-covered doorway on a narrow Heidelberg street

To the extent that a photograph can be “about” things — I tend to think that a photograph “is” a thing — this one is perhaps about my obsession with geometries, about light, and about the door, with its graffiti, and what that might tell us about the door and how people here treat this “street art.” And by “about” I don’t necessarily mean that it tells us about these things — more that it may be about questions raised by such things.

The doorway is on a back street in the old part of Heidelberg, where we wandered on an August day earlier this year. These colors and this sort of paint and decoration seem fairly characteristic of this area. As we walked, the left side of the street was in shadow and the right was struck obliquely by sunlight that was somewhat softened by hazy cloudiness. Without that filtering the light would likely have been almost to stark for the photograph. Here I notice, as I did with an earlier photograph from Amsterdam, that there seem to be some “rules” constraining the application of the graffiti. It is on the door but not, for the most part, on the walls. Oddly, it all seems to be in black or other very dark colors. (I actually wonder if it was created by the people who live/work in this building.)

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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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Photographs: Netherlands, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Garage

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Garage
Garage, Amsterdam

Garage. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Garage, Amsterdam

With some photographs I find it hard to explain what provoked me to stop and make and exposure, or even why I like it. Since not everything can be explained — though I may try! — I’ll share them anyway on many occasions. This is one of those images. We were walking quickly through a section of Amsterdam with very narrow streets when we passed this closed garage. At that moment I had the camera out and was photographing quite a bit… and this became one of the subjects.

There is something about the clean and simple patterns of the door, the stark contrast between very dark and very light tones, and the very simple sign above the door. In a world where such a business would more often have signage including a more lengthy and complex business name, plus descriptive text and probably things like phone numbers… this one simply states, “GARAGE.”

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information 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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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Netherlands, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Unfun

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Unfun
Weathered wall with graffiti, Amsterdam

Unfun. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Weathered wall with graffiti, Amsterdam

For the most part I don’t photograph graffiti, and on the rare occasions when I do in the US I may alter the painted “tags” in post in order to avoid giving publicity to folks who, it may be argued, are basically vandalizing the property of others. I’m also sometimes a bit uneasy, when the marks transcend mere graffiti and become street art, about simply capturing an image of someone else’s art and presenting it as my own.

But sometimes I can’t help myself. In fact, on our 2018 European travels we encountered so much graffiti that it would almost be dishonest to pretend that it isn’t part of the urban landscape. (Especially in Berlin. Very much especially in Berlin…) This little example comes from Amsterdam, and I appreciated several things about it. I was intrigued to see that it was mostly constrained to the blocks or rectangular material on the right side of the frame and mostly not on the bricks — almost as if these were somewhat well-mannered graffiti artists. The juxtaposition of shapes and colors interested me in its own right. And then there is that enigmatic “UNFUN” inscription in a somewhat neat sans-serif font, contrasting with the other colorful scrawls on this wall.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information 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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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Netherlands, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Bicycles and Canal, Rainy Evening

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Bicycles and Canal, Rainy Evening
Bicycles locked to a bridge railing above an Amsterdam canal on a rainy evening

Bicycles and Canal, Rainy Evening. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Bicycles locked to a bridge railing above an Amsterdam canal on a rainy evening

If I remember correctly — and I’m pretty sure I do in this case — I made this photograph late on our first day in Amsterdam this past summer. We had arrived by train from London that afternoon, made our way to our hotel just outside the main “downtown” section of the city, settled in, and then headed on foot into the city to start exploring. For some reason I had expected sunny and somewhat warm weather — which had recently been the trend in northern Europe — but we certainly did not have that when we arrived!

This first late afternoon exploration was quick. It began with a stop at just about the first decent-looking restaurant we ran across, since we were pretty hungry by this point. We finished, went outside, and began walking. It was a dark and drizzly evening, which produced a subdued and moody effect. I made this photograph — obviously! — as we walked on a bridge across one of the canals, finding bicycles leaning against the railings.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information 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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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