Tag Archives: art

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: France, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Free ‘P’ Star

Image April 30, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

This was one of those street photography “grab shots” — I think it was in Le Marais —that I make while walking about in the urban environment. I often make them almost spontaneously — thinking in the moment that the subject is interesting visually, but then not taking time to note the precise location or other facts. To be honest, in a lot of ways this is the opposite of how I work in my landscape photography, and that may be part of the appeal.

From more recent internet research, it appears that “Free ‘P” Star” may be a chain of what we in the US call “thrift stores” or “second hand shops.” There were lots of things in this scene that attracted me: the string contrast between black an orange, the glow of the purple light inside the store, and the impressive collection of street art on the outside wall.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

Join the discussion — you are welcome to leave a comment or question. (Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately.)Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

(All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.)

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Spain, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Street Art, Zaragoza

Image March 15, 2025 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

I may be misconstruing things that I do not understand, but it seems like some places in Europe tolerate graffiti and/or street art more than in the USA, and perhaps that some of it is a bit more sophisticated than the “tagging” that we see so often here. (Indeed, there is tagging in Europe — even in this image — and there is some fascinating street art in America, too.)

I photographed this detail of a wall in Zaragoza, Spain. I don’t know the cultural reference of the figure, if there is one, but the image caught my attention. I get a kick out of how it is positioned as if the vertical pipe is almost irrelevant — yet the pipe covering that eye does affect how we regard the face.

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

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Travel

Duomo Facade, Orvieto

Image December 22, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

It seems like almost every Italian town has its duomo, or cathedral. All that I’ve seen are impressive, but some have especially notable features. This one is in Orvieto, a lovely hill town in Umbria. Oddly, even through we were dropped off very near this cathedral when we arrived, it wasn’t until later that we finally took the time to visit it. The inside is very interesting, but it seems to me that the ornate work on the exterior is the most impressive.

The detail is remarkable, from the sculpted shapes to the statuary to the beautiful mosaics. It is hard to imagine the amount of craftsmanship and artistic talent that must have gone into producing it. Almost any square foot of the exterior would be remarkable on its own, but the fact that it covers so much space is almost unbelievable.

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.

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Scotland, Photographs: Travel

Stairway, Kelvingrove Art Museum

Image October 11, 2024 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

This is a stairway at the Kelvingrove Art Museum in Glasgow, Scotland. In addition to being a wonderful art and history museum, it has a few other special features. As I understand it, the more impressive entrance (which we used) is actually the rear entrance, bordering on a park. The reddish stone used in its construction is eye-catching, too. And once we got inside we discovered that the main hall has a pipe organ used for regular daytime concerts.

Ending up here was perhaps a bit less of an accident than some of the other stops on this day. We had walked from our hotel in central Glasgow, heading toward the West End where we hoped to see some of the famous street art and murals. The route took us through the park next to the museum, so we had planned stop there along the way. But detours abounded, and when we spotted the nearby buildings of Glasgow University we ended up taking a side trip there, too.