Tag Archives: europe

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

Taking a Break

September 15, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Restaurant staff taking a break in a Florence alley

The restaurant, just out of sight to the right of the edge of the frame, was nearly across the street from where we stayed for a couple of days in Florence, Italy, along a narrow street roughly between the Duomo and the Uffizi. A friend of ours who had been there before us mentioned it, and we thought about eating there — it looked interesting, but it also looked a bit like something we could see back home. But it continued to intrigue me, and I looked at it every time we walked past.

We were out for a walk on our last evening in Florence, and I was making a lot of night street photographs. The night utterly transforms the scenes — people behave differently, and the varied colors of light paint the walls of buildings. As we returned to the hotel we walked toward the restaurant and I saw a group of employees taking a break in the alley… and quickly photographed them before they returned to work.

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

Photographs: France, Photographs: Urban/Street

Person, Wall, Le Marais

September 14, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

This is another photograph from Le Marais, and old area of Paris with quite a bit of history that is today said to be a rather trendy area. Trendy though it may be, the streets are very narrow and twisted, most people are on foot, and there are many examples of very old architecture, including this bit of wall.

Although the place is busy with people I managed to wait for breaks and photograph some subjects without the crowds surrounding them. This person was standing against this old wall, checking something on the smart phone. It occurred to me that the smart phone is very close to becoming the subject of art including street photography, perhaps in the way that people smoking cigarettes or reading a book or drinking something might have been in the past. Not that I like it… ;-)

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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.

Photographs: France, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Superette des Abesses, Night

September 10, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The light of a market in Montmartre spills out onto the nighttime sidewalk

This is another photograph from one of our night walks in Montmartre, Paris. It may be quiet at night somewhere in Paris, but here and in the other areas we visited it seemed that there were always people out and about, and especially sitting in cafes and restaurants well into the evening. We ended up getting into the swing of things and eating dinner hours later than we would at home — and taking much longer to do so.

It isn’t just restaurants that are open, either. There are bars and gelato shops and places where you can get a crepe or a cookie. And these little markets are also all over the place. One thing Americans could learn from Europeans, at least judging by what we say, is that it is possible to make healthier foods (and wine!) part of regular eating. Even the fast food places serve salads with the fried stuff! This little market had a colorful stand outside that offered a variety of fruits and vegetables.

Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Urban/Street

Sidewalk, Person in Blue

September 9, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A blue-clad person walks along a Florence sidewalk

Late in August, we ended our lengthy travels — the last four weeks of which were in the UK and Europe — in Florence, Italy. We had met family in the Chianti region, where we all stayed together for a week, and since we would begin our homeward flight in Florence, we decided to at least spend a couple extra nights there before departing. I suppose the main thing I discovered during our brief Florence visit was that two nights (two half days and one full day) was not nearly enough time to explore this city!

Our first Italian city was Bologna, where I noticed the color palette of the buildings was different from what I’m used to — almost everything was some shade between a dark tan and brown, all earth tones. We soon figured out that this was typical in all of the areas of Italy we visited. You see those colors in this photograph, with slight variations plus a bit of blue-gray around one door frame. Coming from the high-tech world of the San Francisco Bay Area, I was also struck by the natural wear on buildings in Italy — many had cracks, areas “needing” paint, and might seem to lean a bit. I discovered that this isn’t really a sign of decay, just the nature of the many older structures that give the place its character. This photograph shows, for me at least, one other characteristic I found in Italy, namely the remarkable light. Here it is the stark midday light, but it is often softened by a kind of gentle atmospheric haze or by low clouds. I think I now understand much better the nature of the skies I’ve seen in paintings from this part of the world.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: europe

Taking a Break

Person, Wall, Le Marais

Superette des Abesses, Night

Sidewalk, Person in Blue

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.