“A Doorway” — Decorated doorway in a stone building, Aberdeen, Scotland.
For some reason I can’t quite define, doors seem to be a popular photographic subject. Perhaps it is curiosity about what lies behind them — both the prospect of something being hidden and the notion of leaving one space and entering another. I often photograph them without quite knowing why, only intuiting that they appeal to me. Here I liked the contrast between the cold and angular nature of the stone structure and the the organic forms painted on the doorway.
“Christmas Vendor, Montpeillier” — A street vendor sells Christmas items on a narrow street with hoiday “cloths’ hung overhead.
Our December visit to Montpellier, France obviously took place during the holiday season. Although it was cold and occasionally rainy while we were there, the streets were often filled with shoppers and others out on the town. The colorful cloths tied to lines spanning the narrow streets were everywhere. I later read that these come out for many holidays and special occasions here.
Along this narrow street a nearby shop had expanded its space outside along the walkway, offering holiday cards and similar items to passers-by. It was daytime when I made the photograph, but this street is so narrow and the buildings so tall, that it felt like twilight on the walkway — except here were lights were turned on.
“Piaggio Ape Art Car” — A highly decorated PIaggio Ape vehicle in Orvieto, Italy.
I have been looking forward to posting this photograph, the final in the Current series featuring these Piaggio Ape three-wheeled vehicles that I photographed in Italy. In the other cases the vehicles were also small “pickup trucks,” but they looked rather utilitarian. For all I know, this one may serve such a purpose, too. But it sure goes way beyond that with its visual appearance.
It was parked along a street in Orvieto when I photographed it. There was no one around who could give me a hint about what its purpose is or what it might mean. But it was quite a sight. The basic paint job is decidedly non standard, but the owners have gone well beyond that simple modification, as you can probably see.
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.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Join the discussion — you are welcome to leave a comment or question. (Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately.)