Recently I have been revisiting some urban photography from nearly a year ago, when we spent time in Chicago and then in New York City. Expect a few more of these photographs over the next few days, a number of which may focus on small details of the urban landscape.
Walls, doors, gates, conduits, signs, trash containers, peeling paint, reflections along a San Francisco street
I’m indulging my fascination with street scenes once again today. This photograph comes from a morning spent walking across San Francisco late last week. I arrived early in the City by train, got off, and walked by an unplanned and mostly spontaneous route across downtown, across Chinatown, through North Beach, and almost to the touristy Pier 39 before looping back to my starting point on The Embarcadero to catch a train back home.
This is a familiar sort of San Francisco scene, especially to those who wander though the City of foot, though I could find similar spots in many other urban areas. In a world where we often see things that have been carefully designed and unified, spots like this seem to occupy the opposite end of the spectrum. It would be easy to walk past and not see it — I’ve certainly done so many times — but once I stop and look I’m often amazed at the density of visually dissonant elements that are thrown together. Almost everything seem like it was initially utilitarian, but gradually a sort of near randomness seems to have crept in, and now the colors are wild and contrasting, paint is peeling, textures are varied, a few signs intrude, trash cans lean against doorways, and the sidewalk tilts.
“Windows, Lamp, Shadow” — A street lamp and its shadow between two windows, Salzburg, Austria
In the summer of 2013 we spent three weeks visiting London, Heidelberg, and the Berchtesgaden area of Bavaria. Since we traveled there from Heidelberg by train, we arrived and departed at Salzburg — and since Salzburg was so close we managed to visit that city on other days during our stay. With our musical backgrounds, the first thing we think of when we think of Salzburg is Mozart, since this is his birthplace and the city is still something of a musical center. Of course, once we arrived we realized there is a lot more to the place. (Did someone say “coffee?”)
I love wandering around in virtually any city with a camera, and I did a bit of that sort of wandering here. It was only after photographing in different areas and on different days that I began to recognize these characteristic lamps showing up in many photographs of diverse subjects, at which point they became a bit of a subject for me.
Statue and buildings near the gate to Old Heidelberg
From time to time something triggers a visit to old photographs that I have not looked at for some time — it might be that I had to go find an image for some project, perhaps a question about the subject came up, or it might even be more or less chance. Inevitably this leads to a visual detour away from whatever more current work I’m focusing on, but just as inevitably I enjoy the side-trip — and sometimes I find material that I had passed over originally.
Nearly two years ago we made a trip to London and then to Germany and as far south as Salzburg, Austria. We spent about a week in London, then went to Germany for a couple of weeks. We started in Heidelberg, where we have family, then spent a week in Bavaria, and then returned to Heidelberg for a few more days. We we fortunate to be able to stay essentially across the river from the old section of Heidelberg, allowing us to walk over there. We entered this part of the town for the first time across the old bridge and through this gate.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more. Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email
