Tag Archives: building

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Construction Site, Cyclone Fence

May 17, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A of new building under construction in the Mission Bay are of San Francisco, as seen through a cyclone fence.

Just across McCovey Cove from San Francisco’s AT&T Park is an area where a lot of construction is currently occurring. The area is visually interesting right now partly because of the juxtapositions of really old and run-down stuff, some of the typical empty urban areas filled with parking lots and other temporary facilities, and a lot of change as new buildings go up. On this morning I walked into an area that not all that long ago had an abandoned feeling during the morning hours – and how it was buzzing with activity. Huge steel pilings stretch toward the sky, construction zones are fenced off, and hundreds of workers and lots of heavy equipment are busily at work. Yet even this is only a temporary state that will lead before long to yet another change once the buildings are complete, the construction workers go away, and new businesses and residents move in.

At this site I had first photographed the towering steel pilings. They created a feeling of a sort of odd, abstract monument as they pointed toward the sky. (A photograph of that will appear, or may already have appeared, here at the blog.) Then I walked up next to the fence surrounding the construction site and was impressed by the organized (I presume!) confusion and complexity of what was going on at ground level. Every inch of the site seemed to be occupied by something – rebar ready for concrete pouring, workers operating various pieces of large and small machinery, engineers and planners inspecting the work, the beginnings of towers and walls rising here and there. If anything in the urban landscape comes close to the level of complexity that may be found in the natural landscape, it just might be a place like this!

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street, Photographs: Wildlife

Room in Abandoned Building, The Embarcadero

May 15, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The interior of an abandoned waterfront building on the Embarcadero, San Francisco.

This interior is a room in a building located on one of the piers along the Embarcadero on San Francisco’s waterfront. This one is located not far from the South Beach Harbor. It seems to be one of those old structures that was recently adapted for use by companies that had the “look” of being part of the tech boom in the city – perhaps design firms or similar. I have walked past it many times, occasionally photographing the exterior windows and other features, but otherwise not noticing it all that much.

On my last walk past this spot things had changed, to say the least. There were signs along entrances that declared that the pier had been closed, ostensibly for safety reasons, and that no trespassing was allowed. No one seemed to be inside the building, and most of the businesses appeared to have left or been abandoned. Though one set of windows I could see stacks of boxes labelled with intended mail recipients, but that mail wasn’t going anywhere! Near the north end of the building I could see into this sun-filled room, with its tall windows facing the bay and the morning sun. Almost everything was removed from the building, giving it almost the same abandoned feeling that I often experience when shooting at Mare Island. I managed to push my camera up against a window, block reflections from the street behind me with my hand, and make a few perhaps final photographs of this space.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Street Light, Yellow Walls

April 9, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A street light attached to the exterior of dilapidated industrial buildings at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.

Given the number of times I have ended up photographing this building at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard near Vallejo, California, you might think that I’d almost be done with it by now. Apparently not. I was back at Mare Island in early March to do some photography with my friends from The Nocturnes (and to drag along photographer and friend David Hoffman). After shooting a newly-accessible area near the waterfront and not far from the Mare Island Museum, our wanderings took us past this building, also sometimes known as the UFO building. (I’ll leave the source of that name a mystery for now…)

These old buildings were part of a very active ship building facility until the mid-1990s when the area was decommissioned. Today many of the old buildings still stand, some kept maintained in their historical state and others now the homes of various industries. As far as I can tell, this weathered building is not occupied, and its exterior is a marvel of peeling paint, wild textures, boarded up windows, external electrical conduits, and more.

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

Windows, Davies Symphony Hall

April 3, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Upper story windows on the curved facade of Davies Symphony Hall reflect the forms of nearby buildings, San Francisco.

This is another of the “opera house” photographs made within or from the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco during last summer’s San Francisco Opera performance of Wagner’s “Ring” Cycle. Even though (or perhaps “especially because?”) I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, I virtually always have a camera with me when I go to The City – sometimes even for musical performances. Because it was June and the sun was setting late, and because the very long performance that night was to start at 7:00 p.m., there was still plenty of light before the performance to make photographs inside the Opera House and from its windows.

Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, the home of the San Francisco Symphony, is directly across the street from the opera house, and each building’s upper floors provide a good view of the other building. For this photograph I snapped on a longer lens – yes, I’m pathetic enough to show up at an opera performance with more than one lens in my bag! – and was able to compose a tighter image of the curving upper floor windows of Davies Hall.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: building

Construction Site, Cyclone Fence

Room in Abandoned Building, The Embarcadero

Street Light, Yellow Walls

Windows, Davies Symphony Hall

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