Tag Archives: architecture

Photographs: Netherlands, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Garage

Image December 6, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Garage, Amsterdam

With some photographs I find it hard to explain what provoked me to stop and make and exposure, or even why I like it. Since not everything can be explained — though I may try! — I’ll share them anyway on many occasions. This is one of those images. We were walking quickly through a section of Amsterdam with very narrow streets when we passed this closed garage. At that moment I had the camera out and was photographing quite a bit… and this became one of the subjects.

There is something about the clean and simple patterns of the door, the stark contrast between very dark and very light tones, and the very simple sign above the door. In a world where such a business would more often have signage including a more lengthy and complex business name, plus descriptive text and probably things like phone numbers… this one simply states, “GARAGE.”

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

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

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Austria, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Travel

Skylight, Austrian Postal Savings Bank

Image November 30, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Skylight above the main interior space of the Austrian Postal Savings Bank

The Austrian Postal Savings Bank in Vienna is an astonishing bit of modernist architecture. There is a lot of see in Austria, and for various reasons this didn’t make it onto many of the lists we consulted. However, close to the end of our 2018 visit we got a recommendation to visit this place, which turned out to not be all that far from where we were staying.

The building, both historically and architecturally, is a fascinating place. My understanding is that the Austrian Postal Savings Bank was a sort of revolutionary extension of banking services to working people in Austria, to encourage them to develop savings habits even though the amounts they were likely to deposit paled next to what the wealthy had to work with . This particular building is also a beautiful example of modernist architecture of the early 20th century. The photograph looks straight up from the floor of the main room in the building, a large open space surrounded by service windows/desks. This skylight is simple but very big, and it produces absolutely lovely interior light.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

Photographs: Netherlands, Photographs: Travel

Amstel Canal

Image November 20, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Boats along the Amstel Canal, Amsterdam

We had clouds — and occasional rain — during a good part of our August visit to Amsterdam. This being our first time in that city, I did not really know what sort of weather to expect, and stories of unusually warm northern European weather had me expecting something different. I mentioned this to some natives we ate with at a brewery one rainy evening, and they sort of laughed, explaining that “seeing the blue sky is somewhat unusual” in Amsterdam. I guess we were lucky then, since we actually did see some blue sky later.

Amsterdam is pretty much as you probably imagine it if you have read about the place. There are, obviously, those canals, with provide one of the many layers of transportation in parts of the city. (Other elements include many walkers, many cyclists, some drivers, public transit, and so on.) We had gotten to this location in the city by boat, if I recall correctly, but then set out on foot to explore a bit. I made the photograph not far from the opera house, on a bridge crossing the canal.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

Pigeons on the Roof

Image November 10, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Pigeons on the roof of the Brancusi Gallery at Le Centre Pompidou, Paris

We were here somewhat early in the morning to visit the nearby Centre Pompidou. We may have arrived before it opened — or perhaps we weren’t aware that it had opened, or possibly we just wanted to look a bit before entering. In any case, we were walking around the large open space in front of the entrance, and I took the time to make a few photographs of the surroundings.

Off to the side, along a parallel street, is the Brancusi Gallery — the building whose roof is seen in the photograph. I think that the flock of pigeons first caught my attention. I thought it was odd that they were all clusters on the roof of this structure. Then I began to find the composition of lines and shapes and color interesting, with the slight foreground diagonal creating some dissonance with the squared shape of the gallery and with the older buildings in the background.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: architecture

Garage

Skylight, Austrian Postal Savings Bank

Amstel Canal

Pigeons on the Roof

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.