Category Archives: Photographs: Urban/Street

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Urban/Street

Blue and Billboard

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Blue and Billboard
A billboard portrait loomes over urban reisdences.

Blue and Billboard. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A billboard portrait loomes over urban reisdences.

Photographs like this one are sometimes a bit difficult to “sell” (in the sense of “persuasion”) to folks who mostly think of me as a “landscape photographer.” There’s a whole lot I could write about this, and I’ll share a little bit of that below, but one reason that I’ve photographed some subjects like this recently is that they are available to me! I carry a camera while out walking, and every so often something catches my eye and I pause to photograph.

In a sense you could think of these photographs as an extension of my landscape photography into the “urban landscape” that I live in. While the subjects seem completely different, there are connections that you might imagine if you think about it a bit. There is also a practical aspect to this kind of photography — it is available to me simply by walking out my front door, unlike the more familiar landscapes that require more travel and logistical preparation. In addition, there are benefits to keeping my seeing skills tuned up by trying to find things to photograph no matter where I am. Beyond that, there are a few things to ponder about regarding the juxtaposition of elements found here.

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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Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Urban/Street

Silicon Valley

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Silicon Valley
The words “Silicon Valley” on an industrial building in San Jose, California.

Silicon Valley. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The words “Silicon Valley” on an industrial building in San Jose, California.

This is probably not quite what comes to mind when you hear the words “Silicon Valley.” Although the photograph does indeed come from that place, the location is in a somewhat run-down area occupied by small light industrial tenants. This particular one has mystified me more than once — as far as I can tell the only signage is the two words painted on the wall, and I never seen anyone there. (I’m tempted here to make some pun about letting the chips fall where they may, but I won’t. Sort of.)

Aside from that mysterious sign, I like the simple geometry and the bright color of the building. (It has been sitting on my desktop for a while now, along with several other urban photographs that also feature a particular color.) In fact, I think it may be possible to view this simply as a sort of a color and form abstraction.

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

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

La Nuit Bohème

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La Nuit Bohème
A doorway with a poster and grafitti in Heidelberg, Germany

La Nuit Bohème. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A doorway with a poster and graffiti in Heidelberg, Germany

Deciding what to write about this photograph is proving to be a bit of a challenge. From my perspective it sort of “is what it is.” But that doesn’t make for a very informative post, so I’ll try! I made the photograph while walking down a narrow street in the old part of Heidelberg, Germany, on a street that is distinctly not the Hauptstrasse.

Several things intrigued me about the simple scene. First, the poster for “La Nuit Boheme” makes this opera fan thing of, well, you know. I also am fascinated by the angles and surfaces of very old buildings. (In one city full of them I finally realized that the exteriors of such places — unlike in urban America — are not the “beautiful places” most of the time, and the beauty is where passers-by cannot see it; perhaps it is inside or in a small yard. The disconnected feeling of the spaces marked off by different colors of walls, the door, and the pavement seem seem to signify things that were not meant to connect but simply found themselves in conjunction.

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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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: England, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

A Break at Nelson’s Column

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A Break at Nelson's Column
Two young men taking a break on a ledge, Nelson’s Column, London.

A Break at Nelson’s Column. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two young men taking a break on a ledge, Nelson’s Column, London.

Before I began my recent string of Sierra Nevada photographs — unearthed, recovered, rediscovered for another project — I was sharing photographs from a trip to the UK and Europe nearly a decade ago. I had shared some work from Germany, Austria, and London… but I had not completed the sharing of all of that work. Starting with his photograph, I’m going to begin to work my way through a bit more of that backlog.

During this London visit we did many of the usual London things. (Though we also do not always operate in the usual way of travelers — for example, rather than deciding ahead of time what to see we often set out blindly in new places to discover unexpected things.) In any case, one of those things one must do is visit Trafalgar Square, the location of Nelson’s Column. When we were there, a lot of people were using the lower portion of the structure as a place to sit and perhaps have a snack… and these two fellows had found special perch just a higher than the rest.

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.