Tag Archives: church

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Scotland, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

East Church of Inverness

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East Church of Inverness
“East Church of Inverness” — Two pedestrians pass the facade of the East Church of Inverness with its striking purple doors.

We spent only a single night in Inverness on this trip, a decision I think we regret a bit. (One challenge with travel, of course, is there is never enough time to do everything.) The main focus of the first part of this trip was hiking the Great Glen Walk between Fort William and Inverness, so in our minds Inverness had become simply “the place where the walk ends” and not necessarily a place of interest on its own. In any case, we did get an afternoon and a morning to wander the town before we headed south, and this beautiful stone church with its striking doors was one “discovery.”

One other Inverness story: The Great Glen Way is pretty easy to follow and, on balance, relatively easy walking. There are hills and a few steep sections , but nothing like what we’ve experienced in the Sierra. The trail is well-marked. But on the final day we managed to get off-route at the very end. Rather than coming into Inverness on the Great Glen Way, we sort of ended up taking the… Great Wrong Way. It rained for the final few hours, and I think we were so focused on getting to our destination and out of the weather that we overlooked a critical trail sign at one point. We soon found ourselves wandering along a canal and through boat yards thinking, “This can’t be the trail!” it wasn’t, but we finally found a round-about route to central Inverness to finish the walk. Our reward? A pub was right across the street from the trail’s terminus!

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.

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Spain

Columns and Ceiling, Sagrada Familia

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Columns and Ceiling, Sagrada Familia
“Columns and Ceiling, Sagrada Familia” — Wide-angle view of interior columns and ceiling, Sagrada Familia, Barcelona.

Many have seen photographs of the exterior of Barcelona’s Sagrada Família, the basilica based on Gaudi’s architectural designs. After visiting, I realized that we may be less familiar with the building’s remarkable interior — perhaps this is because it is easy to photograph the outside but much less simple to photograph inside. The scale of the interior is gigantic, with huge columns leading to a vault high above. It is very complex and busy, with details everywhere — but in some ways not like those in older cathedrals.

Many of the forms are based on organic models. (It is said that there are almost no straight lines here at all.) You can see some of them in this photograph — the columns that evoke tree trunks, the floral shapes, foliage, and more. (This wide angle view produces an additional and perhaps unintended association — the spine and rib cage.) In many places the building is full of vibrant colors from light coning through stained glass. But in this particular area, the colors are more subdued, though they span a range form the warm colors in the distance to the cool, slightly blue tones of the upper columns.

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.

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

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

Duomo di Siena

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Duomo di Siena
“Duomo di Siena” — An overhead interior view of the Duomo di Siena.

Here is another photograph made from the upper levels of the Duomo di Siena, or Siena Cathedral. In this case we signed up for an early morning tour that took us way up to the roof of the building and listed a number of rooms and passageways that you wouldn’t know about by visiting the main floor. At times we had incredible views of the surrounding city and countryside, and at other points we got unusual and striking views inside the church itself. I made this photograph through a narrow opening as we crossed between the two sides of the duomo.

As with all such cathedrals, it is worth pondering how their architecture and interior additions must have seemed almost incomprehensible to people when they were constructed. Today we put up much large buildings in a year or a few, but then it took decades or even centuries. Even more remarkable, at one point at even larger cathedral was planned and initial construction begun — and it that version the space in this photograph would have been merely the width of the church, not its length.

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.

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

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Desert, Photographs: Southern California

Desert Church, Cloud-Filled Sky

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Desert Church, Cloud-Filled Sky
“Desert Church, Cloud-Filled Sky” — Cloud-filled skies above the St. Madeleine Sophie Barat Roman Catholic Church in Trona, California

This is not the first time I have photographed this striking desert church, and isn’t even the only photograph of the subject from my visit to this area earlier this year. Trona is a small, hard-scrabble town in the desert between Ridgecrest and Death Valley. It is build around extraction industries, primarily based on “mining” the mineral deposits left behind when water evaporates from nearly Searles Lake. It is a tough place, full of abandoned buildings, and terribly hot at times.

The church has caught my attention for years as I’ve passed through on my way to Death Valley. It is one of the most unusual Catholic churches I have seen. Its construction seems entirely utilitarian, and its shape is notable blocky and square. There’s nothing colorful or soaring about its structure. This all seems fitting in this harsh environment. On this visit I paused to photograph it again, this time with an impressive cloud-filled sky from a departing late-winter storm.

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.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

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

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