Tag Archives: fountain

Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Closed Fountain

Image Leave a comment
Closed Fountain
A brick wall behind a fountain closed by the pandemic.

Closed Fountain. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A brick wall behind a fountain closed by the pandemic.

If it seems like there have been a lot of black and white photographs here recently, well, yes. I’m not certain why that is, but I do know that I began as a black and white photographer, and somehow seeing in monochrome remains at my visual core.

This photograph comes from a visit to a location we visited in order fo photograph a very different sort of subject — a beautiful (mostly) formal garden full of blossoming flowers. We went there after both of us had arrived at that wonderful point two weeks after being fully vaccinated, and it was liberating to wander (masked) through the gardens. However, somehow, among those beautiful and colorful flowers, this is what I came home with! I’m tempted to offer explanations and propose a few metaphors to consider as you view the image, but since I wasn’t really consciously thinking of them when I made the photograph, I’ll just leave the photograph here and let you decide.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

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

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: People, Photographs: Urban/Street

Red Shirts, Fountain

Leave a comment

Red Shirts, Fountain
Two brightly clad people face a fountain in Washington Square

Red Shirts, Fountain. New York City. July 2, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two brightly clad people face a fountain in Washington Square

Manhattan’s Washington Square holds, along with many other places in this city, lots of opportunities for people-watching and for photography. On this visit we meandered through the park late on a Sunday morning as we walked to a destination further uptown. There was a lot going on: A pianist was set up on a walkway to give a recital, jazz combos played here and there, groups were doing aerobics, folks were playing in and around the fountain, people sitting on benches read the morning paper quietly, and much more.

When it comes to explaining what a photograph “means” or what it attempts to accomplish I would generally leave the determination to the viewer than offer too much explanation. I have my reasons! One is that, at least in most cases, I tend to think that a photograph that requires explanation may be a photograph that doesn’t speak strongly. Another is that I believe that multiple understandings of a photograph are possible, and that the photographer does not have a monopoly on the correct interpretations. But here I will give a few hints about what I was thinking when I made this. First, I was working quite quickly — there was definitely not enough time to pre-conceive this image. (That is not to say that pre-visualization was not possible, but that is a different thing.) I think the red shirts, which stand out from most of the other elements of the scene, initially caught my attention. The geometry of the scene also interested me — I confess that I think about composition quite a bit, even when shooting street. There is also something about the anonymity of these two people as they stand and look at a fountain while others are swimming in it or sitting on the steps that lead to the water. There’s more, but I’ll leave it at that.

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: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Blue and Green Receptacles, Yerba Buena Gardens

2 Comments

Blue and Green Receptacles, Yerba Buena Gardens
Blue and Green Receptacles, Yerba Buena Gardens

Blue and Green Receptacles, Yerba Buena Gardens. San Francisco, California. July 15, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Blue and green waste receptacles next to a glass wall at Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco.

I’m tempted to not say much about this photograph, beyond the basics of where and when and what. The “where” is along the wall of the performing arts center at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center. The when is on a morning with high fog that produced some nice, diffused light. The “what” is, well, a couple of trash cans in front of a large window, behind which there are a couple of other trash cans in the same color scheme, a drinking fountain, and some yellow walls. Profound, no? :-)

G Dan Mitchell Photography
About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

(Basic EXIF data may be available by “mousing over” large images in posts. Leave a comment if you want to know more.)

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Windows, MOMA

4 Comments

Windows, MOMA
Windows, MOMA

Windows, MOMA. New York, New York. August 18, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A scene consisting almost entirely of windows and secondary reflected subjects, Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Look closely and you’ll perhaps see that this is not quite what it might first appear to be. It is something of a visual trick or joke on one level. It is some other things, too.

The bottom line is that almost nothing in this scene is actually where it appears to be or even what it appears to be. The shot was made through an upstairs window of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the vertical shapes are the window frame and a bit of the interior wall at the far right, with some diagonal elements of the frame at top and bottom. But the “scene” outside is entirely reflected in the windows of the adjacent building – this is actually a photograph of a single glass-walled building, not exactly a photograph of an urban scene with buildings and trees and sidewalks and people – those are all reflections in the glass of the building. Obviously, I was also having some fun with perspective lines going off in a range of different directions – the window frame lines converging to the right, the outside perspective lines converging toward the left, and the converging lines on the reflected buildings headed back to the right. There’s more, but I’ll probably get lost if I try to describe it. A close inspection – easier with the print than in this little jpg – reveals some other odd stuff here and there: double images of some of the reflected buildings, some warping and bending of those shapes, people scattered around the courtyard and some moving figures that are barely visible.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Flickr | Twitter (follow me) | Facebook (“Like” my page) | LinkedIn | Email
Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.