Tag Archives: imaginary

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Ocean & Coast

Rock Abstraction

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Rock Abstraction
“Rock Abstraction” — An imaginary landscape of rock, Point Lobos coastline.

I feel that there is always a tension in landscape photography between showing things as they literally are, showing them as we might wish they were, and using them as departure points for more imaginative explorations of what they suggest to us. This photograph falls squarely into the latter category. As I looked at the remarkable patterns in these shoreline rocks, I thought about how I have seen similar patterns in paintings. So I decided to push reality a bit and head in the direction that those works suggested.

Once again, this photograph illustrates how I/we can find new things in old places. I made the photograph at a coastal spot that I have photographed since I was a young kid with a cheap black and white camera, imagining himself following in the footsteps of Adams and Weston — who also photographed exactly here. Decades later I still return and ind new things and new ways to see them.

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.

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Photographs: Abstract, Photographs: Imaginary Landscapes

Imaginary Landscape — Rocks

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Imaginary Landscape — Rocks
“Imaginary Landscape — Rocks” — An abstraction from a photograph of colorful shoreline rocks.

I decided to experiment a bit with this image. What is a photograph, anyway? No photograph is “real” and every photograph offers only a limited and incomplete view of its subject. This image begins as a photograph of some rocks. (The original image appeared at this website previously.) A very close look might reveal the underlying subject, though it is not easy to see. But I had an urge to use it as a starting point for experimentation.

From time to time I have played with altering photographic images more than usual, partly as a way to develop my “chops” and partly because, well, this fascinates me. The immediate inspiration for this one was an online conversation a few days ago that considered how far a photograph can be “pushed.” Years ago I decided to refer to these experiments as “imaginary landscapes,” in part to acknowledge that they forego photographic realism.

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 | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Abstract

Serendipity

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Serendipity
A photograph of some colorful things.

Serendipity. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

A photograph of some colorful things.

This is just about color… unless you want to make it about something else. Such a photograph could be intentional (to the extent that photographs are “intentional” — read the second paragraph), but the level of serendipity in this one is high, hence the title.

There’s an odd idea that photographs are objective records — but that’s clearly not true. Even in cases where some sort of evidentiary standard is followed, decisions about aspects of what gets recorded and how it gets recorded are subjective. And beyond that limited use for photographs, once we get into the realm of images that are intended to express something, photographs are often far from objective records. One of my favorite expressions: “All photographs lie.” (I could refine that a bit, but there’s not space in this post.)

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.

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

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Photographs: Abstract, Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Imaginary Landscapes, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Tower

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Tower
“Tower” — Tall building in shadow, San Francisco

I have a series of photographs, a series that I call my “imaginary landscapes” — photographs that do not attempt to be objectively real depictions (not that photographs can truly succeed at such a thing) but instead go for what I think of as a subjective reality. This photograph is an urban equivalent to those — perhaps an “urban imaginary landscape?”

The source image came from a recent visit to San Francisco, when I was in a location from which I could look directly toward the outer shells of very tall buildings. Because the weather was overcast, the light was muted and it made its way into shadowed areas that might otherwise be dark. This produced a source image that allowed me a great deal of leeway for interpretation in post.

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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

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