Windows, Oblique Light. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The shadows of windows in oblique lighting on a Berlin building.

You might regard this as “what happens when they let landscape photographers do street photography.” For me, street photography combines a bunch of possible components — the human element, the crystallization of a “moment,” the light and color and patterns, and the nature of urban landscape. I do think of the urban scene as a landscape, and in some ways — though not all! — I approach it that way. (Depending on how far you want to go with that thought… it does have “valleys,” and “faces,” and “peaks,” and even flora and wildlife.)

We had spent the day walking through parts of Berlin, starting at our hotel a way off from the central city, heading past the East Side Gallery area of the Wall, then walking back toward the central area of the Brandenburg Gate. As we got closer to this center we improvised a route that did not take the largest, most popular streets, and it a few places we ended up in rather non-touristy spots. I’d have to go back and consult a map to see precisely where this was photographed, but I was intrigued by the minimalist quality of the architecture, the shadows cast by the protruding window frames, and the contrast between the warm red-brown tones of the wall and the cool blue tones of the windows — and even a resonance with the landscapes of the American Southwest.

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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