Category Archives: Photographs: Urban/Street

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

J’Existe

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Detail of wall with sticker-covered pipe, Le Marais, Paris

J’Existe. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Detail of wall with sticker-covered pipe, Le Marais, Paris.

For those who wonder, the title of the photograph comes from the small sticker attached near the upper end of the pipe near the middle of the frame. Once I noticed this one I started seeing them in other places in Paris… and in photographs I had made without seeing them!

I made the photograph on a walk through Le Marais, an older section of Paris that still has narrow streets and lots of rather old buildings. We were staying not far from here, and having visiting this area in the past I wanted to go back. With the narrow streets — barely wide enough for a single vehicle, with sidewalks that are barely wide enough for one person — photographing here can be a bit of a “cramped” affair, especially when shooting the buildings straight on. But the architecture is often quite interesting (if nearly monochromatic) with very old structures, some leaning at “interesting” angles. This little vignette caught my attention with its interesting geometry build out of lines and rectangles — and I was intrigued by the fact that the numerous stickers covered the pipe… but had politely been left off of the walls.

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: New York City, Photographs: Night, Photographs: People, Photographs: Urban/Street

Man With Ice Cream Bar

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Man With Ice Cream Bar
A man eating an ice cream bar on a Manhattan night

Man With Ice Cream Bar. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A man eating an ice cream bar on a Manhattan night.

As I continue revisiting some old raw file archives from nearly a decade ago, I’ve been going through some photographs from a weeklong visit to New York City. We were there partly for music-related activities, partly for family reasons, and partly to make photographs. A few years’ distance from the immediate experience lets me see the photographs a bit more objectively, I think, and I’ve found several that I think are worth sharing now.

For five or six years I’ve been doing a lot of handheld night street photography, but this photograph comes from before that period —actually from a single evening in Manhattan when I began photographing in twilight and just kept going. There are multiple ways to “read” this photograph. I think that one initial approach may be less than complimentary to the subject, but the more I think about it the more I see other perspectives that are positive. I’ll leave it to viewers to sort that out!

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Booklets

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Booklets
A portion of an old sign on the wall of a business

Booklets. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A portion of an old sign on the wall of a business.

From what I can tell, I’m not the only photographer who is occasionally distracted by subjects like this, nor the only photographer who photographs odd signs. I came across this one on a wall as I walked through an area of San Francisco. At this point, I suspect that the sign is largely forgotten — it was hidden behind a truck in an area along the fringe of a gas station.

There are several things that can be fun or interesting about these signs. For one, I’m intrigued by signs that are not associated with “name” businesses or products, but which are truly one-of-a-kind. Typically this means that they were built and/or painted by hand, and often some of the rough edges show. (Judging by the dark areas on the letters, I suspect that this wall was tagged, and someone painted the main wall but left the text of the sign “as is.”) The distressed quality of the wall is also interesting, with its peeling and fading paint. Finally, taken out of context like this, the letters of signs can become disembodied and divorced from their literal meaning… and they sometimes start to look rather odd.

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

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

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

Behind The Wall

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Behind The Wall
The “backside” of the Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery

Behind The Wall. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The “backside” of the Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery.

A possible alternative title for this photograph could be “Back Side Gallery.” Get it? OK, I’ll explain. The wall is The Wall, a remnant of the old Berlin Wall. This section is now known as the East Side Gallery, and on the other side (the “front side”) it features a wonderful array of street art that memorializes and comments on the Wall, its history, and a range of related subjects.

The East Side Gallery is, among many other things (most of which are likely more significant than what I’m about to write) a powerful example of how art claims out attention and can, at least temporarily, distract our vision from the mundane. The location of this section of the wall is unremarkable. One one side (where most probably don’t look) is this empty field, a plain wall covered with graffiti, and not much else. On the other side, as you stand looking at the “Gallery” portion, behind you is a busy roadway and an area filled with architecture that is not exactly eye-catching. But if you stop and take in the street-art side of the wall and the impromptu street theater produced by visitors, all of the rest of that temporarily disappears.

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

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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