Tag Archives: europe

Photographs: Netherlands, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Garage

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Garage
Garage, Amsterdam

Garage. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Garage, Amsterdam

With some photographs I find it hard to explain what provoked me to stop and make and exposure, or even why I like it. Since not everything can be explained — though I may try! — I’ll share them anyway on many occasions. This is one of those images. We were walking quickly through a section of Amsterdam with very narrow streets when we passed this closed garage. At that moment I had the camera out and was photographing quite a bit… and this became one of the subjects.

There is something about the clean and simple patterns of the door, the stark contrast between very dark and very light tones, and the very simple sign above the door. In a world where such a business would more often have signage including a more lengthy and complex business name, plus descriptive text and probably things like phone numbers… this one simply states, “GARAGE.”

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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: Netherlands, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Unfun

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Unfun
Weathered wall with graffiti, Amsterdam

Unfun. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Weathered wall with graffiti, Amsterdam

For the most part I don’t photograph graffiti, and on the rare occasions when I do in the US I may alter the painted “tags” in post in order to avoid giving publicity to folks who, it may be argued, are basically vandalizing the property of others. I’m also sometimes a bit uneasy, when the marks transcend mere graffiti and become street art, about simply capturing an image of someone else’s art and presenting it as my own.

But sometimes I can’t help myself. In fact, on our 2018 European travels we encountered so much graffiti that it would almost be dishonest to pretend that it isn’t part of the urban landscape. (Especially in Berlin. Very much especially in Berlin…) This little example comes from Amsterdam, and I appreciated several things about it. I was intrigued to see that it was mostly constrained to the blocks or rectangular material on the right side of the frame and mostly not on the bricks — almost as if these were somewhat well-mannered graffiti artists. The juxtaposition of shapes and colors interested me in its own right. And then there is that enigmatic “UNFUN” inscription in a somewhat neat sans-serif font, contrasting with the other colorful scrawls on this wall.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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.

Photographs: Netherlands, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Bicycles and Canal, Rainy Evening

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Bicycles and Canal, Rainy Evening
Bicycles locked to a bridge railing above an Amsterdam canal on a rainy evening

Bicycles and Canal, Rainy Evening. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Bicycles locked to a bridge railing above an Amsterdam canal on a rainy evening

If I remember correctly — and I’m pretty sure I do in this case — I made this photograph late on our first day in Amsterdam this past summer. We had arrived by train from London that afternoon, made our way to our hotel just outside the main “downtown” section of the city, settled in, and then headed on foot into the city to start exploring. For some reason I had expected sunny and somewhat warm weather — which had recently been the trend in northern Europe — but we certainly did not have that when we arrived!

This first late afternoon exploration was quick. It began with a stop at just about the first decent-looking restaurant we ran across, since we were pretty hungry by this point. We finished, went outside, and began walking. It was a dark and drizzly evening, which produced a subdued and moody effect. I made this photograph — obviously! — as we walked on a bridge across one of the canals, finding bicycles leaning against the railings.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Austria, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Travel

Skylight, Austrian Postal Savings Bank

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Skylight, Austrian Postal Savings Bank
Skylight above the main interior space of the Austrian Postal Savings Bank

Skylight, Austrian Postal Savings Bank. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Skylight above the main interior space of the Austrian Postal Savings Bank

The Austrian Postal Savings Bank in Vienna is an astonishing bit of modernist architecture. There is a lot of see in Austria, and for various reasons this didn’t make it onto many of the lists we consulted. However, close to the end of our 2018 visit we got a recommendation to visit this place, which turned out to not be all that far from where we were staying.

The building, both historically and architecturally, is a fascinating place. My understanding is that the Austrian Postal Savings Bank was a sort of revolutionary extension of banking services to working people in Austria, to encourage them to develop savings habits even though the amounts they were likely to deposit paled next to what the wealthy had to work with . This particular building is also a beautiful example of modernist architecture of the early 20th century. The photograph looks straight up from the floor of the main room in the building, a large open space surrounded by service windows/desks. This skylight is simple but very big, and it produces absolutely lovely interior light.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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