Category Archives: Photographs: Urban/Street

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: France, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Paris Reflections

Image Leave a comment
Paris Reflections — an "invisible" building.
“Paris Reflections” — Reflective walls around a construction produce an imagined urban landscape.

Approaching this structure was an odd experience. At first I think I didn’t even quite notice it. And then when I first did become aware of “it,”I thought I was looking at a street lined with tall buildings. But it quickly became apparent that it was an illusion, produced by a huge cube of mirror panels reflecting the surrounding neighborhood.

It wasn’t quite clear what the structure was about when we saw it. We eventually determined that it isn’t an actual “real” building, but instead was some sort of wall that cuts off the view of construction work happening inside. What in this entire photograph is “real?” The foreground asphalt and roadway, but that’s it. The rest is entirely reflections of other things in the surrounding area.

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.

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: France, Photographs: People, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Three Parisiens

Image Leave a comment
Three Parisiens
“Three Parisiens” — Three people walk along a street in Le Marais, Paris.

There is a story about this wall that I’ll share in the second paragraph. The photograph comes from the Le Marais district of Paris, where we were out for a walk in early December. It uses one of the classic approaches to street photography, namely finding an interesting street landscape and waiting for people to walk into the frame and populate it. This can lead to a lot of photos of the sides of people, but here it helps that the person in the lead has glanced in my direction.

About that story… This wall is the location of one of my favorite photographs that I have made in Paris. It features three (likely related) women in front of this wall… back when it was covered by some fascinating street art. (You can find the photo by searching for “je suis bleu” on my website.) This reinforces how transitory street subjects can be. Not only do people come and go, forming visual relationships that may last only an instant, but the street landscape itself changes over the seasons.

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.

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: France, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Rainy Evening, Montpellier

Image Leave a comment
Rainy Evening, Montpellier
“Rainy Evening, Montpellier” — A rainy night street scene in Montpellier, France.

After we left Germany during our late-autumn and early-winter visit to Europe last year we headed to France, eventually ending up in Montpellier, a city in the South of France. While we like returning to places we have previously visited — we always see things we missed the first time — we make a point of going to new places, often those we had not thought of visiting before. Montpellier fit the bill, as it had not been on our radar at all, and we knew little about it.

We were there for just three nights, so I can’t claim that we fully “know” the place, but we liked what we saw a lot. We were in the older central part of town, staying in a small hotel a block from the central square, the Place de la Comédie. It was raining when we arrived, but that didn’t stop us (or thousands of locals!) from heading out for the evening.

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.

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Spain, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Churros Time

Image Leave a comment
Churros Time -- table with churros, a cup of chocolate, and coffee cups.
“Churros Time” — Churros, chocolate, and coffee, Madrid Spain.

Yes, this is at Madrid’s Chocolatería San Ginés, one of the better-known (and more touristy) churros shops. Even though it is located down a less-than-obvious side street, the place is often packed. They have come up to the challenge, with a unique (to me, anyway) method of taking orders and allocating tables. The churros and chocolate are the classic combo, with the coffee a nice accompaniment.

I am glad we visited this place, since it is an icon. But it isn’t my most favorite churros experience in Spain. That was in Zaragoza, where we heard that a particular place on an obscure back street is loved by locals. While Americans like us might expect this to be a morning thing, this place only opened at 4:00PM, and the locals were already lined up inside and at the outside walk-up window. And, even better, it seemed that no one spoke English, aside from a helpful customer who was willing to put her limited English to work helping a couple of confused Americans.

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.