Tag Archives: construction

Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Construction Zone

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Construction Zone
A man walks past construction barriers in San Francisco

Construction Zone. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A man walks past construction barriers in San Francisco.

Like most big cities, San Francisco is in a perpetual state of construction, demolition, and reconstruction. It is fun to imagine a city that arrives in a perfect state and stays there for a while — but that’s not going to happen. Among many San Francisco projects, one of the biggest right now involves constructing an underground transit route under the center of the City, and years of torn up streets have ensued. Although it is possible to imagine the project concluding now, there’s still a lot of work going on.

One major purpose of the route is to extend transit in a more effective manner from the Caltrain station at Fourth and Townsend. I frequently travel to the City by way of the train, and this visit was no exception, so I found myself walking straight up Fourth and past a section where the rails are above ground before they descend into a tunnel. Here the ongoing construction is separated by barriers from the (few) remaining traffic lanes.

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 and Amazon.

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Photographs: France, Photographs: Urban/Street

Empty Lot, Paris

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Empty Lot, Paris
An empty lot with graffiti and street art, Paris

Empty Lot, Paris. Paris, France. August 8, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An empty lot with graffiti and street art, Paris

I’m pretty certain that I made this photograph on the evening of our arrival in Paris in the summer of 2016. We came from London the train, arrived in the afternoon, checked into a hotel, and headed out to explore. We were staying in Montemartre, which is a fine place to wander, with narrow streets, hills, and plenty of places to eat and drink.

A bit later, at dusk, we were walking through a residential area when we passed this empty and apparently abandoned lot. It appeared that it had been commandeered by graffiti artists, who produced everything from text to images. My sense was that this produced a sort of urban landscape, and as different as this look from, say, the Sierra Nevada, it photographed it in a similar way in the fading light.

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 and Amazon.
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Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Trains, Hudson Yards

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Trains, Hudson Yards
Trains on tracks leading toward buildings under construction at Hudson Yards

Trains, Hudson Yards. New York City, New York. December 28, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

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 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 and Amazon.
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Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Construction Site, Hudson Yards

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Construction Site, Hudson Yards
Construction work on the foundation of a new building at Hudson Yards

Construction Site, Hudson Yards. New York City. December 28, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Construction work on the foundation of a new building at Hudson Yards

Along a section of the west shoreline of New York City there is a monumental construction project, mostly above the Hudson Yards, where there is a huge train yard. As I understand it, because the train yard cannot be moved, the gigantic towers being constructed here must be built on top of the rail yard, which seems like an almost unimaginable construction challenge. When finished, the train yard will still be there, but beneath the absolutely huge collection of towers housing businesses and residences. The project has already been going on for years, and I understand that it will not be complete until something after 2020.

Since the new upper end of the High Line Park wraps around the site, there are plenty of opportunities to photograph the work from good vantage points. Most of my photographs were looking across the site or up at the towers, but in this case I simply leaned out over the edge of the High Line and pointed the camera almost straight down, where a small crew was working on the foundation of some new structure amidst a scene of great complexity.

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