Category Archives: Photographs: Urban/Street

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Napping Man on Bench

July 10, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A man taking a nap on a sunny bench in Manhattan

This is the second of a pair of photographs featuring this red wall near Washington Square in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan. If my memory is correct, the building is part of the NYU campus. We were passing that way on a walk in the uptown direction from our hotel, and soon after I made this photograph we spent a good chunk of time enjoying the Sunday morning ambiance of the park, where (no surprise!) lots of stuff was going on: a piano performance, a couple of jazz groups, people exercising, folks reading the Sunday paper, “pigeon man” (a story for later), and much more.

New York City is a pretty warm place this time of year. (I can hear New Yorkers exclaiming, “Duh!” right about now.) Lots of people, including me, and find it enervating, especially when the humidity is high. As it usually is. Looking now at this photograph (which I made almost as much for its geometry, light, and color as for its human subject), I can feel that heat and humidity and relate personally to the urge to simply fall asleep for a moment on such a bench!

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

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Walking Woman, Wall

July 8, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A woman walks past a Manhattan wall

We returned last night from a week in Manhattan, mostly visiting family but also wandering… and eating… and photographing. I know for a fact that I’m not the only so-called nature or landscape photographer who also loves photographing the urban landscape, and when there is hardly a more varied or compelling location than New York City — from Central Park to the skyscraper canyons to the variety of neighborhoods. I’m often happy to just go out walking with my camera, with only the vaguest notions of what I’ll photograph, and to be open to surprise.

We were walking uptown from our hotel, which was on Grand, almost in the middle of the Little Italy area, and we decided to pass through the Washington Square area. We were almost there when we approach portions of the NYU campus and I saw this cubist scene, with colors, shapes, and textures that immediately reminded me of the sandstone canyons of the Southwest. (Yes, my mind works that way, even in the Big City.) I made a few quick initial exposures and then paused to see who would walk into the frame on this sunny morning.

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

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Urban/Street

Food Truck

July 7, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The food truck vendor behind dark blue glass

There is a bit of a strange story behind this photograph and a few others I made on the same evening. I was at a brewery that isn’t too far from where I live — we had been meaning to visit the place for some time, but when we heard there would be a Fujifilm camera demo event with loaners we decided to go. The Fujifilm representative showed up with a table full of goodies, and they let us check them out for about 15 minutes at a time.

I decided to go with something basic and try the X100f, the new Fujifilm rangefinder style camera. The photographic subjects were a bit limited. There were a couple of models hired to come in for the event, but that’s not really my thing. But the street photography presence of a beaten up old food truck was irresistible.

Photographs: England, Photographs: Urban/Street

Colchester Baptist Church

July 5, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Baptist Church, Colchester, England

This is another photograph from our brief summer 2016 one-day visit to the town of Colchester, England — a short train trip from London, where we were staying for about a week. We weren’t really sure what we would find in this town, so when we arrived on the train we simply got off and started wandering. Of course, breakfast was near the top of our agenda. After that we walked through the large park near and in back of the town castle.

Eventually we left the park and spent a few hours slowly wandering the narrow streets of the town. Much of it was, frankly, somewhat nondescript. But every so often something interesting would turn up: the ruins of an old church, and outdoor restaurant along a narrow street, and this very business-like and foursquare Baptist church with its striking blue door.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Category Archives: Photographs: Urban/Street

Napping Man on Bench

Walking Woman, Wall

Food Truck

Colchester Baptist Church

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.