Tag Archives: black and white

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Building In Muted Light

February 20, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Cloud-muted light on an urban building near SFMOMA

This building is becoming something of a theme for me, and I often end up treating it in black and white. I made the photograph from one of the outdoor terraces high on the side of the new section of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), from which there are interesting and varied views of the surrounding downtown San Francisco neighborhood. This building is perhaps the closest to the museum, and its form and the texture of its surface are interesting.

I originally thought that it would be a color photograph. The soft light played in interesting ways on the subtle colors of the stone and the pastel color of the windows. But the more I worked on it the more something persuaded me to let go of that nod to realism and instead go with a rather highly processed monochrome interpretation. There is a school of architecture photography that makes heavy use of techniques that darken areas of the image and then compensate by selective lightening. This is often complemented by some techniques involving blur — a sort of masking effect. I used these and more, including some heavy dodging and burning to get this photograph to what you see here — perhaps for no more reason than that I wanted to explore some of these techniques.

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

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Hotel, Narrow Street

February 10, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Out for an afternoon walk on our last full day in Florence, Italy on this visit, we kept walking as night arrived. We only had a few days here at the end of a long trip, so we were trying to make the most of a short stay. Our hotel was in the old section of the Florence, so we could walk out the front door onto one of the very narrow old streets and head off in any direction and find interesting things.

At this point, nearly a half-year later, I can’t remember precisely where I made this photograph, though it may have been roughly in the neighborhood between our hotel and Duomo. There were a lot of people out walking on this warm evening, and many of my other photographs of this street included pedestrians and cyclists, but I think I ended up liking this deserted view with the street winding past the backwards “hotel” sign and then curving out of view.

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.

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

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Toy Apple Beauty Barber Saloon

January 21, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The “Toy Apple Beauty Barber Saloon” in Manhattan’s Chinatown district

The photograph comes from Manhattan’s Chinatown district, which we visited on a warm summer evening a few years back. (Actually, we’ve visited the area many times.) We went there to try to eat a place we know, but decided to first wander a bit and, of course, for me this meant I could make some photographs. The area is different from other parts of Manhattan in a number of ways, but to me perhaps the most striking is the narrowness of the twisting streets, which are not laid out in the expected orderly form.

The streets are filled with small shops of all sorts. I think this is a beauty shop and/or barber shop, but the store name is a bit perplexing. Places like this intrigue me in the ways that they are not like modern chain businesses. Almost everything about the place is idiosyncratic — from the name to the cup on the object over the door leading to the lower room at the right.

Photographs: People, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Three People, Gallery, Elevator Door

January 16, 2017 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Three people in an art gallery with a freight elevator door

I suppose that if you are camera-shy and you see me in a museum that you may want to run for cover. (Or just wait for me to become interested in the exhibits — I’m notorious for taking forever to work my way though museums. Family members have been known to just give up and go find a restaurant to wait for me to finally finish!) In any case, I like to photograph in museums, for the interesting architectural details and light and for the opportunity to watch people doing interesting things and assembling themselves into various compositions.

We were at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA) where we had seen a lot of very interesting stuff. (My favorite was the installation on the top floor by William Kentridge, “The Refusal of Time. I walked into it prepared to be unimpressed, but ended up being very moved by it.) Along the edge of a gallery on a lower floor there was a giant freight elevator door taking up almost all of one wall. One thing about museums is that almost anything seen in such a place has the potential to take on meanings beyond the ordinary, and for some reason this door caught my attention. I did as I often do with such subjects — I waited for people to populate this “intimate urban landscape” so that I could make a few photographs.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: black and white

Building In Muted Light

Hotel, Narrow Street

Toy Apple Beauty Barber Saloon

Three People, Gallery, Elevator Door

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