Tag Archives: europe

Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Urban/Street

Woman, Smoking Cyclist

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Woman, Smoking Cyclist
A woman walks into an alley past a smoking bicyclist, Florence/Firenze, Italy

Woman, Smoking Cyclist. Florence/Firenze, Italy. August 28, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A woman walks into an alley past a smoking bicyclist, Florence/Firenze, Italy

My impression, from about three days in Florence, is that this beautiful city is very much about tourism. (No surprise, right?) In the daytime, starting by mid-morning, and on into the evening it is a busy place, and most of the people seemed to me to have come from some other place. There are restaurants and shops all over the place and, of course, the folks selling trinkets in every square and along popular streets.

Occasionally I did manage to encounter scenes that seemed a bit less polished, especially when we went out early, avoided the most popular through routes,  and wandered into some of the narrower streets with fewer businesses. Here, in the morning, a fellow with a bicycle pauses to lean against a wall and smoke, and a woman in what I suspect could be so-called “traditional dress” of some sort furtively ducks into an even small side alley.

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: Italy, Photographs: Urban/Street

Foto Automatica

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Foto Automatica
A sidewalk “foto automatica” booth in Florence, Italy

Foto Automatica. Florence/Firenze, Italy. August 28, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A sidewalk “foto automatica” booth in Florence, Italy

The “foto automatica” (sometimes called a “photo booth” in America) is rapidly becoming a dated thing. Now that everyone carries a smart phone with its built-in camera, every place can be a photo booth. Years ago these were more common — both for simply getting a picture (or several) of yourself and for collecting a group of friends to share the cost and then mugging for the camera.

I don’t see many of these today, but there are a few still around. This one near our hotel in Florence was very popular. This photograph is a bit misleading — on virtually every other occasion when I passed by there were groups of people inside and outside. I suspect that part of the fun is that it produce something that we don’t see so much today, namely snapshots printed on paper.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Gelateria, Night

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Gelateria, Night
A gelateria worker checks his phone while waiting for customers in the evening, Florence

Gelateria, Night. Florence/Firenze, Italy, August 27, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A gelateria worker checks his phone while waiting for customers in the evening, Florence

These little places are everywhere in central Florence — and it other European cities we visited this summer. Compared to most US streets, the overall impression in most such places is that there is far less overt advertising and fewer big, bright shops with garish lighting. Against that background, the small shops, open to the sidewalk and narrow street, can look quite inviting.

The fact that they sell gelato doesn’t hurt either! Several times we got the gelato “itch” and went out looking. It might have been easier if there had been fewer choices! Often the shops are crowded with people queueing up in front, but the worker in this shop seems to be having a quiet moment to check his phone.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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

Photographs: France, Photographs: Urban/Street

Sidewalk Art, Le Marais

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Sidewalk Art, Le Marais
“Sidewalk Art, Le Marais” — Art presented for along a sidewalk in Le Marais, Paris

Several days into our recent visit to Paris we finally made our way to the Le Marais district, partly because it had been recommended (by our oldest son and others) and partly because we wanted to visit a photography museum found in the area, Maison Européenne de la Photographie. The area proved to be very interesting and to be a wonderful place to photograph.

It now is, from what I could see and what I’ve read, a rather “trendy” place — lots of shops and restaurants and so forth. But it also has a history, and I understand that it managed to escape some of the modernization of Paris that took place since the 1800s, including a proposal to raze the area and even to put a major thoroughfare there. These things didn’t happen, so now there are beautiful old (sometimes very old) buildings along narrow and twisting streets. As in almost every place that visitors go in Paris, there are people selling things on the streets. Most of the products are cheap trinkets, but here it was sidewalk art, and I photographed the display while the artist/vendor was elsewhere for a few moments.

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.