Tag Archives: city

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Walking Man and Brick Building

September 12, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A man walks past a brick building in Brooklyn, New York

Near the start of our recent long travels we stayed several days in Brooklyn, visiting that area and others around Manhattan. We stated in an area not far from the Brooklyn waterfront, near the end of one of the bridges crossing the East River. Due to scheduling reasons, we were only able to wander this neighborhood a little bit at first, but later we did find some time to explore a bit.

Just north of our location — roughly Williamsburg — was an area with restaurants and shops, where we figured out we would have been luck looking for coffee and meals, since right around our lodgings there wasn’t much. My recollection — slightly vague now six weeks later — is that I made this photograph while walking in this area. I think I remember seeing this squared-looking red (painted) brick building first, and then waiting for someone to walk through the scene.

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

Street Scene, Manhattan

August 16, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Looking up a narrow street in the West Village

I like old photographs of cities, and especially of big cities like New York. For obvious reasons they tend to be in black and white. Once I started photographing these same subjects and making some of the photographs black and white, I began to notice that things in such places often look far more like they had in the past and that the supposed modern nature of such scenes is not at all obvious when abstracted by the camera.

I made this photograph from an elevated position along the High Line Park path that runs along a portion of the western side of Manhattan. In order to spot much here that is unique to the current time, I have to look closely — the overall impression is almost timeless. Yes, the vehicles are modern (at least for now), there are some traffic barriers in the distance that are a fairly new presence, and a very close look reveals somewhat modern attire on a few of the pedestrians.

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

Photographs: France, Photographs: Urban/Street

Dawn, Paris Rooftops

August 15, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Rooftops and the long view at dawn, Paris, France

The photograph of this view was a result of a couple of coincidences. I have to admit that we rarely got up this early on our trip to France (or the UK, or New York, or Germany…), more often sleeping in and finally getting out the door of our room at 10:00 in the morning or so. We kid ourselves about our ability to adapt to time zone changes — we think we didn’t make it quite all the way to Europe but instead locked into a time about one zone west of Ireland! But on this morning we had no choice but to get up very early since we were scheduled to take an early train to Germany and we didn’t want to miss it.

But being up before dawn wouldn’t have quite been enough to give us this view. There is a hotel story involved, too. When we arrived earlier in the week we were given a room several floors lower. We went up to the room, opened the door, walked in… to find a pack of cigarettes on the bed, suitcases on the shelf, and clothes in the closet! The hotel upgraded us as a result, putting us in a room that was near the top of the building and which gave us a view across Paris. So, up at 6:00 in the morning, still fairly dark in Paris, we got dressed and then watched the light show as the sun spread across the city.

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Trains, Hudson Yards

July 16, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Trains on tracks leading toward buildings under construction at Hudson Yards

We seem to have developed a habit of visiting Manhattan at slightly odd times of the year — usually either during the uncomfortably hot summer months or else in the dead of winter. (Between the two, my vote is for winter!) When we are there we spend as much time as possible out walking around, and I’m almost always carrying a camera — this city is an amazing source of opportunities for all kinds of photography.

On the final morning of our trip we took one last walk along the elevated High Line Park since we wanted to walk the new (to us, anyway) northern extension. The park affords wonderful elevated views, which means that there are clearer lines of sight to more distant features and that it is possible to get a kind of aerial view looking down into the closer landscape. Near the end of the park it takes a loop out toward the water to go around the old Hudson Yards, where many train lines converge on the eastern part of Manhattan. Today this is the site of a gigantic construction project, and as I understand it, the yard is going to eventually end up beneath the huge buildings.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: city

Walking Man and Brick Building

Street Scene, Manhattan

Dawn, Paris Rooftops

Trains, Hudson Yards

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