Category Archives: Photographs: Urban/Street

Amsterdam Bike Lane

Amsterdam Bike Lane
Cyclists on a bike lane on a cloudy day in Amsterdam

Amsterdam Bike Lane. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Cyclists on a bike lane on a cloudy day in Amsterdam

This photograph is partly about bicycles and Amsterdam, partly about that interesting and dark sky, partly about Amsterdam architecture and buildings that lean, and partly about that guy in the foreground. This summer was our first visit to Amsterdam. We stayed just outside of the central city and walked a few blocks to get to the well-known areas each day. For many years I was a very active cyclist in the US, but this is an entirely different scene. Almost no lycra, dropped handlebars road bikes, few mountain bikes… and lots of people in street clothes riding very utilitarian bikes… and parking them everywhere. Somehow the intersecting types of traffic — foot, transit, canal, bicycle, car — seem to coexist here, though it can be quite confusing at times for a first-time visitor.

This day’s light was remarkable. There was thin sunlight, but there were also some lovely dark clouds in the sky. If memory serves, we were in light rain later that evening as we ate dinner outside. We ended up talking to a couple who live in Amsterdam about many things. I confessed that I had initially been mildly disappointed to find the cloudy weather when we arrived, expecting it to be sunny. They more or less laughed and pointed out that this was the more typical sort of conditions. (They claimed that I would not see blue sky. That turned out to be wrong… but only by a little bit!)


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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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Wiener Würstl

Wiener Würstl, Vienna
“Wiener Würstl” — Patrons standing around a “wiener würstl” stand at night in Vienna

I made this photograph on a late-August evening in Vienna. We had just returned from dinner, perhaps a bit early, and I realized that I had just enough time to head out and do some night street photography in the crowded nearby streets… which were absolutely filled with pedestrians. There was a lot to see and photograph — a nearby cathedral, shops and cafes, pedicabs, people passing by. As I neared the completion of my looping walk I passed a couple of the ubiquitous “würstl” stands, which seem to collect people in their circle of light.

This photograph is part of a genre that I’ve been pursuing for the past few years — handheld night street photography. It was just a few years ago that I realized that small contemporary digital cameras are now good enough in very low light that I can photograph street scenes using only available light, especially if I seek out sources of light such as this. I’ve been doing night photography for more than fifteen years, and I’m part of a collective of San Francisco Bay Area night photographs known as Studio Nocturne. As it turns out, we’re in the middle of our “fall season” right now, with several events coming up right away.

For more than 15 years we have exhibited every fall as part of the San Francisco ArtSpan Open Studio Event. This year our “open studio” is at ARCH Supplies in San Francisco. Our opening preview and artist reception is on Friday, October 26 at 6:30-9:00PM. Our exhibit and sale continues on Saturday and Sunday, October 27 & 28, from 11:00AM-6:00PM.

Studio Nocturne 2018 ArtSpan Open Studio October 26-28
Studio Nocturne 2018 ArtSpan Open Studio October 26-28

We’re also doing a San Francisco ArtSpan Open Studio “hub show” mini-exhibit at Farley’s Coffee in San Francisco all month, with a public reception this Friday, October 19 at 6:30PM-8:30PM.

Studio Nocturne 2018 Hub Show at Farley's Coffee
Studio Nocturne 2018 Hub Show at Farley’s Coffee

Why don’t you join us at one or both of these events? We look forward to seeing you!


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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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

Reflecting Pool, Structural Components, Skyline

Reflecting Pool, Structural Components, Skyline
A pool and exterior components of Le Centre Pompidou, Paris

Reflecting Pool, Structural Components, Skyline. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A pool and exterior components of Le Centre Pompidou, Paris

The Centre Pompidou in Paris is a fascinating place in many ways. To start with, there’s a lot going on in the surrounding neighborhoods, the large courtyard in “front” of the building, and inside. The art collection is quite wonderful. And, of course, the building itself is unusual and something of a marvel. It also provides plenty of opportunities for photography.

Many of the components of the building are on the exterior instead of being hidden behind a shell. Architectural structures, stairways, ventilation systems and more are right there for the observer to see. This photograph incorporates some of those structural elements, which form the main criss-crossing form in the image. It may not be immediately obvious, but the photograph was made outdoors and many floors above the ground level. Here a shallow pond reflects the structural elements and a bit of Paris sky, with the upper floors of surrounding buildings filling in the middle of the scene in the distance.


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 | Twitter | Facebook |
Email


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

Parked Scooter

Parked Scooter
“Parked Scooter” — A scooter parked along a Paris street

I saw this scooter parked along a street in Paris — in the Le Marais area, if I recall correctly. In many urban European areas, at least that I’ve seen, such things are ubiquitous, along with the many urban bicycles. Here there is really little or no room for a car, but it is possible to squeeze in a bike or a scooter. The retro styling of these things is a lot of fun — they have an appearance that seems like it might have felt hyper-modern… about 40-50 years ago.

The scooter also reminds me of something that I rediscover to varying degrees when I travel, namely how much of what we do and expect is conditioned by familiarity with places and their customs. At one point on this trip we rented a car to drive from Paris (CDG airport) to a location southwest of the city where we would stay for a week. The area was semi-rural, but with towns and villages here and there. Driving in such places would be second-nature to me in the USA, but in France it was anything but! I had to actually try to understand and interpret traffic signs and graphics, something that takes considerably longer when the signs are unfamiliar and one is not a speaker of the local language. Even something as simple as knowing, for example, that it is apparently OK to park a scooter in a place like this would be an utter mystery.


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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


All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.