Category Archives: Photographs: Urban/Street

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Abandoned Building, Poles, Sky

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Abandoned Building, Poles, Sky
Utility poles in front of an abandoned brick building.

Abandoned Building, Poles, Sky. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Utility poles in front of an abandoned brick building.

This is one of my occasional walking-around photographs. I like to walk, and I done this even more during the pandemic when local walks were much more possible than drives to more distant locations. I always carry a small camera that fits in the little bag I carry on these forays. (The camera is a small rangefinder-style camera fitted with a single very small prime lens.) On most walks the camera stays in the bag, but every so often I see something that catches my eye… and I’m happy that I brought it along.

I have traveled past this spot for decades. Long ago it was part of a busy cannery run by a major company. (We could spell the aroma of incipient tomato paste and sauce from this factory miles away.) Those days are gone, and the area now features a growing collection of high density urban housing, but some of the buildings still remain. I think of this photograph as an urban landscape, and the inclusion of that sky and those clouds perhaps makes the connection more obvious.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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

Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Closed Fountain

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Closed Fountain
A brick wall behind a fountain closed by the pandemic.

Closed Fountain. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A brick wall behind a fountain closed by the pandemic.

If it seems like there have been a lot of black and white photographs here recently, well, yes. I’m not certain why that is, but I do know that I began as a black and white photographer, and somehow seeing in monochrome remains at my visual core.

This photograph comes from a visit to a location we visited in order fo photograph a very different sort of subject — a beautiful (mostly) formal garden full of blossoming flowers. We went there after both of us had arrived at that wonderful point two weeks after being fully vaccinated, and it was liberating to wander (masked) through the gardens. However, somehow, among those beautiful and colorful flowers, this is what I came home with! I’m tempted to offer explanations and propose a few metaphors to consider as you view the image, but since I wasn’t really consciously thinking of them when I made the photograph, I’ll just leave the photograph here and let you decide.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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

Photographs: Urban/Street

Oh See!

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Oh See!
An old business sign in San Jose, California.

Oh See!. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An old business sign in San Jose, California.

This is not the first time I have shared a photograph of this sign. In fact, in the past I shared a color version of essentially the same photograph, one in a series that I quickly “snapped” while on a long urban walk. The sign is almost iconic in this part of the world.

You could regard this photograph in any of several ways. On one level, it is a sort of record shot that captures a specific instance of a certain rapidly-fading sort of commercial sign, a one-of-a-kind bit of commercial graphics that seems to be fading from this increasingly urbanized area. I think it is also an example of seeing beyond the literal nature of the thing. When I look at it, what I find most interesting is the relationships between the painted letters and the shadow versions created by the sun shining on the old neon lamps.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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

Photographs: Pacific Northwest, Photographs: Urban/Street

Red Things

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Red Things
Red awning and car, Portland, Oregon

Red Things. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Red awning and car, Portland, Oregon

Over the next week or so I plan to sneak in a few photographs from the urban world that I’ve had lying around here for a while. This one comes from a trip to Portland, Oregon a few years ago.

If this photograph is “about” something, it might be the color red. Sometimes in urban areas when my photographer brain is fully engaged, I move away from seeing “things” and instead see imagery that may be based on all sorts of elements. I’m pretty sure that I can make those who are with me wonder about my sanity by noting things like, “Look, the car, the paint, and the awning are all red! Too bad it isn’t parked in a red zone!”

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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