Tag Archives: man

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Man Inside Subway Car

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Man Inside Subway Car
A man in a hat inside an antique subway car, Manhattan

Man Inside Subway Car. New York City. December 27, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A man in a hat inside an antique subway car, Manhattan

I had been hearing about the “nostalgia” train days in New York for some time, mostly from my sons, who now live there and who are big fans of the infrastructure (and more) of New York. This year the timing of our visit allowed us to go to the nostalgia event, a day when lots of the old trains are out and running on the subway lines, and open to riders who want to get a feeling for what the system was like in the past.

People seem to show up for all kinds of reasons. Some seem like your standard railroad fans. Others seem to come mostly for the history. A few other, somewhat like me perhaps, simply go because we heard that it was going on. But some folks do all sorts of fun and idiosyncratic things. In one car I ran into a crowd of photographers, many of whom were using really old and impressive film gear. Others dress up in period clothing. As I photographed this car I was taken by the image of this smiling man in a color accented bright white shirt. As I photographed, furtively at first, I could tell that he wanted me to photograph him and he encouraged me to make more than one photograph.

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: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Through the Train Window

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Through the Train Window
A moment at a passing Manhattan subway station

Through the Train Window. New York City. December 27, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A moment at a passing Manhattan subway station

I was in the train when I made this photograph. I had started by making a few photographs of the reflections inside the car of people standing the aisle, juxtaposing them with the shape of the window and the lights moving past outside. Frankly, that idea didn’t work this time. But as the train moved into the station and stopped, I saw a moving tableau of passengers getting off and coming onto the train. As so often happens, they seem — to me, at least — to constantly arrange themselves by accident into interesting patterns, of shape and form and of activity.

it is hard to clearly explain what I see in a scene like this — I know what it is, though it is hard to articulate. There are three, maybe four main “characters” in the scene, and they all act without any apparent awareness of the others, in true Manhattan style. The woman in the dark coat holding the bag at the left side is facing the train and holding up both hands to make a cell phone picture. Behind her another woman in black is facing the opposite direction, seemingly busy with something she is holding. To the right a man, whose features are hidden by light blurred by the train window, is busy starting to take a camera out of his bag as he leaves the station. In the middle a woman is walking through the exit gate. The light is strange because I’m shooting through dirty train windows and directly toward the source.

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

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Hand to Heart

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Hand to Heart
A man on a cell phone outside a coffee shop with holiday decorations

Hand to Heart. Brooklyn, New York. December 24. 2015. Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A man on a cell phone outside a coffee shop with holiday decorations

I made this photograph on Christmas Eve day, 2015 in Brooklyn, when we went out to find coffee in the morning. If I recall correctly, we ended up at this Starbucks — though it is possible that we might have just walked past here on the way to another place. The man was probably not the main subject. The wild patterns in the windows were what first caught my attention.

Initially I thought of the photograph as a color image, but the more I looked at it the more the various holiday colors began to distract from the pattern itself, so I decided to go with the monochromatic rendering. Inside there were many people, sitting on chairs and at tables, drinking coffee and checking their laptops. Outside on the cold sidewalk and alone, one man waited for something and checked 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+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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

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

Four Figures In Doorway

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Four Figures In Doorway
Four people stand in front of the doorway of a Manhattan store

Four Figures In Doorway. New York City. December 24, 2015. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Four people stand in front of the doorway of a Manhattan store

I suspect that this photograph is going to perplex more than a few folks who watch my landscape and nature photography. In fact, this is one in a large string of very urban photographs made in New York in late December 2015. For those of you who “get” and like this work, thanks! For those who don’t, the more familiar kinds of photography will return before too much longer, and I’ll try to intersperse more of that photography with the urban/street/night stuff.

I’m endlessly fascinated by the way in which seemingly formless and virtually random patterns of motion in the urban environment can suddenly coalesce into something that has structure and which may even be mysterious and suggestive. Capturing this stuff requires me to be “on” all the time — and this can make me not at all fun to be with in these places when I’m carrying a camera! I made this photograph on a very crowded Christmas Eve in Manhattan, and it is one from a short sequence I photographed of this group standing in front of the entrance to a closed store — and for this instant the group miraculously assembled themselves into a fascinating tableaux of individual poses, especially the woman on the left.

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+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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