Tag Archives: abandoned

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Portugal, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Buildings, Porto

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Buildings, Porto
Distressed buildings in Porto, Portugal.

Buildings, Porto. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Distressed buildings in Porto, Portugal.

Based on our three-day visit, Porto is a fascinating city. I’m no expert on Portugal, but it is my understanding that the country was one of the least wealthy in Europe and that it was sort of neglected — but more recently it has become quite a popular destination. The attractions are many: fascinating food, sunny shoreline, port (!), general friendliness to English-speakers. We spent time here in Porto and then in Lisbon, and they have so far been among our favorite destinations on this trip.

While Porto has plenty of modern, sophisticated stuff… it is also still full of old, run-down-looking neighborhoods with buildings suggesting better days in the past. (And, from what I hear, now there is a lot of redevelopment of these older areas, which brings its own controversies.) The building in this photograph must have once been quite nice, but today it looks like its best days are behind it — yet, look at that characteristic tile work and more and this building seems like it could be part of the Porto revitalization.

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: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Ghost Towns, Photographs: Southern California

Abandoned Mill

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Abandoned Mill
An abandoned mill on a steep slope high in the Panamint Mountains.

Abandoned Mill. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

An abandoned mill on a steep slope high in the Panamint Mountains.

For someone like me, the first instinct is to think of Death Valley National Park as being mostly wilderness, and then to associate that with the idea that it is a place of little or no human presence. In truth there’s virtually no place in the world where we have not left a mark… and there are many examples in this park. They range from evidence of long-ago native populations and their descendants who still live there to the rather astonishing number of old mining sites. No matter where you go in this park., you are bound to see these things.

In the latter category is the site of Skidoo, where there was once a real town and lots of mining and ore refining… in just about the most unlikely location imaginable. It was near the summit of high desert mountains, far from any paved roads. The ruins of the water-powered mill (an astounding story too long to relate here) sit on a steep hillside, overlooking a remarkable expanse of rugged desert terrain and mountains that extends to the distant peaks of the Sierra Nevada.

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: Urban/Street

Morning After

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Morning After
Sad pumpkin, the day after Halloween.

Morning After. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sad pumpkin, the day after Halloween.

And you thought we’d get through this season without me sharing a pumpkin picture. No such luck! A couple of weeks ago someone suggested making photographs of orange things. Pumpkins seemed kind of too obvious, but in the end I could not entirely resist. Mostly I kept my eyes open for anything that was orange — signs, paint, vehicles, lights — but somehow these gourds kept jumping into the frame. (If you have never tried it, going out and constraining your photography to a color or a shape or something similar is a great exercise.) One thing I learned from the process is that “orange” is much more nebulous concept than I had thought — the “edges” of this color bleed over into red, yellow, and brown.

This sad fellow was sitting at the edge of a driveway in a pile of leaves on the morning after Halloween. The expression seemed like the ultimate “meh” look to me. Finally, in case you are wondering… yes, there is still one more pumpkin photograph to come. I know you are thrilled!

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: Architecture, Photographs: Germany, Photographs: Travel

Heidelberg Thingstätte

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Heidelberg Thingstätte
An outdoor theater with a history dating to the 1930s in the hills above Heidelberg, Germany.

Heidelberg Thingstätte. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An outdoor theater with a history dating to the 1930s in the hills above Heidelberg, Germany.

This photograph has been sitting on my computer for months as I’ve wondered what the heck to write about it. I’m still not sure of the best way to address what it is or its history, partly due to the fact that my actual knowledge of its background is not that deep and because that background at least seems more than a bit fraught. (You can find a good primer by going to the wikipedia entry and then to the related entry on “Thingspiele.”) Basically, this facility and others like it were created in Germany in the 1930s as an expression of some combination of nationalism and Nazism as I understand it.

It is a strange and sobering experience to come upon such a place, especially if you were, like us, unaware of its existence before you arrived. Aside from films from that era (and modern films that channeled some of the imagery, including Indiana Jones movies) this is outside our experience. As I recall, before we arrived here there may have been some nervous mention of the “Nazi amphitheater,” but I didn’t get it until we walked into the place from the area of the stage and looked up at the gigantic amphitheater. We climbed the stairs, exited at the top, and continued on to a much older architectural relic where we remained as the afternoon turned to 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” 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.