Tag Archives: firenze

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

Taking a Break

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Taking a Break
Restaurant staff taking a break in a Florence alley

Taking a Break. Florence, Italy. August 28, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

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.

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: Urban/Street

Sidewalk, Person in Blue

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Sidewalk, Person in Blue
A blue-clad person walks along a Florence sidewalk

Sidewalk, Person in Blue. Florence, Italy. August 20, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

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 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.