“Poetry 86” — A weathered Aberdeen wall with graffiti, pipes, and street art.
It may seem odd that someone cast as a “landscape photograph” is also intrigued by rough-edged urban scenes. To some these subjects may seem as radically different from natural landscapes as can be imagined, but I see connections. In fact, I like to think of photographs like this one from Aberdeen, Scotland as “urban landscapes.”
“The Naked Emperor” — “The Naked Emperor,” by Edward von Lõngus, on an Aberdeen wall.
I photographed this version of “The Naked Emperor” in Aberdeen, Scotland, but I understand that the figure is found in many European cities. The artist signs his work, “Edward von Lõngus,”which I understand is a pseudonym meant to hide his real identity, in the Banksy tradition. I made the photograph along a very old, narrow street in an area of Aberdeen where there is a lot of other street art.
“Ivy Roots” — Intertwined ivy roots draping across a concrete retaining wall.
I have walked past this place scores of times — it is along one of my regular walks. I walk almost daily, often along one of a group of familiar routes. It had been weeks since I last did this one, so it was time again to visit it. As I walked along a creek and past some commercial buildings I “saw” something that I have certainly seen before, but not really noticed — a great wall of ivy roots stretched across concrete.
“Loading Dock” — An old loading dock, closed off with corrugated metal sheets.
This photograph is a companion to another one I recently shared featuring a different part of the same old building. It is a weathered structure with loading docks on both sides that is in a very slowly gentrifying light industrial area of San Jose. It has all the features you’d expect — it is next to an old rail line, it is on a fairly major street, and its exterior features concrete, corrugated metal, and very weathered wood.
I had been thinking about photographing it for a while but never seemed to get around to it, despite going there fairly regularly. There are now some newer businesses in the building that we patronize. I finally remembered to bring a camera as I went out for a long walk that would take me there, and I paused to photograph this old loading dock, now obviously abandoned, with its interesting textures and geometric forms.
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.