Category Archives: Photographs: Urban/Street

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Patio, Reflections

June 3, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Reflections in the window of an outdoor patio area at SFMOMA

This is (yet another!) photograph from our pre-opening visit to the newly updated and expanded SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art). The museum has been closed for something like two years while major construction was ongoing, and many have been waiting with a sense of expectation for the reopening, which took place in mid-May of this year.

It was a beautifully gray and wet day in San Francisco, with soft and gentle light. Several times I went outside onto the various patios and balconies that open from the museum to the surrounding urban San Francisco landscape, and the artificial structure produced by the expanses of reflecting glass became a subject. The extend and amplify open and lighted spaces, and make them seem to appear where big and solid building structures actually exist.

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

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Reclining Man, San Francisco Bay

June 2, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A man rests along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay

It is usually not my habit to photograph the down and out, homeless people, and other photographic clichés — I often (though not quite always) feel that such photography can be too easy, can create a false impression of concern and engagement, and that the invasion of the subject’s privacy may raise some ethical questions that concern me. But like most rules, there are exceptions, and this subject seemed to be one for me.

There was something about this man, reclining quietly in the sun along this popular stretch of San Francisco’s scenic waterfront that has, looked at it certain ways, a kind of nobility. Something about him and his location and pose reminds me of certain Renaissance paintings. And, frankly, his appearance seems to me to coalesce and possibly completely change what would otherwise simply be another scenic San Francisco urban landscape photograph.

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

Photographs: Events, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: People, Photographs: Urban/Street

At the Gallery

June 1, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Visitors at the new SFMOMA museum in San Francisco

The newly expanded and refurbished SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) reopened recently, and we had an opportunity to spend a day there during the week before the public opening. The new building is a success in our minds — full of interesting and sometimes surprising interior spaces, with new portals connecting it visually to the surrounding city, and beautiful galleries to display the work. (There are a few oddities — the space on the ground floor seems sort of sprawling and disorganized, but I digress…)

I always like photographing in museums, especially those with more modern architecture. The light and the angles of walls and entry ways are often fascinating, and people behave in ways that are much different from what I might see in other venues. I usually photograph quickly in these places, partly because I don’t want to intrude on the experience of other visitors and partly because scenes and juxtapositions often assemble themselves and then disappear so quickly.

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

Tower

May 27, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

I have a series of photographs, a series that I call my “imaginary landscapes” — photographs that do not attempt to be objectively real depictions (not that photographs can truly succeed at such a thing) but instead go for what I think of as a subjective reality. This photograph is an urban equivalent to those — perhaps an “urban imaginary landscape?”

The source image came from a recent visit to San Francisco, when I was in a location from which I could look directly toward the outer shells of very tall buildings. Because the weather was overcast, the light was muted and it made its way into shadowed areas that might otherwise be dark. This produced a source image that allowed me a great deal of leeway for interpretation in post.

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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

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Category Archives: Photographs: Urban/Street

Patio, Reflections

Reclining Man, San Francisco Bay

At the Gallery

Tower

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