Tag Archives: men

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

Five Brothers Fat Enterprise

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Five Brothers Fat Enterprise
A business at the edge of Chinatown, Manhattan

Five Brothers Fat Enterprise. New York City. July 3, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A business at the edge of Chinatown, Manhattan

In early July we spent a week in New York City, visiting relatives, wandering around the city, seeing a few museums, and eating a lot of good food. Oh, and making photographs. We stayed in a small hotel in the area more or less dividing Little Italy from Chinatown, and there was a lot to observe right in the neighborhood, night and day.

If I recall, on this morning we may have been out looking for a place to grab breakfast, or possibly we were staring out on a walk to a further destination. I was in street photographer mode, with my small camera out and at the ready, when we walked past this complex little scene, with the interesting graffiti covered “enterprise,” the man sitting inside, and the fellow in the cross walk waiting to cross the street.

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

Crew Members, Staten Island Ferry

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Crew Members, Staten Island Ferry
Two crew members against a railing in morning light on the Staten Island Ferry, New York, City

Crew Members, Staten Island Ferry. New York City. October 7, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two crew members against a railing in morning light on the Staten Island Ferry, New York, City

The photograph is something I grabbed while riding the Staten Island Ferry from Manhattan to the island. It is almost a bit embarrassing to admit this in retrospect, but I made the photograph while the whole family was on the ferry on the way to the wedding of our youngest son. They hired an actual wedding photographer — there were two of them, actually — but, of course, I could not leave my camera behind. I had been making a lot of informal photographs of the wedding party when I saw these two guys against the orange-painted steel of the ferry.

Technically the photograph was a little bit tricky. Not only were parts of the scene in deep shadow, but the two figures were backlit and the sunlight on the urban landscape beyond was extremely bright. I exposed to (barely!) keep a bit of detail in those bright areas, planning to bring the shadow details back in post. Amazingly, it worked! :-)

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: Italy

Street Vendors Standing on Sidewalk

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Street Vendors Standing on Sidewalk
Street vendors stand and wait along a sidewalk next to the Arno in Florence, Italy.

Street Vendors Standing on Sidewalk. Florence, Italy. August 28, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Street vendors stand and wait along a sidewalk next to the Arno in Florence, Italy.

I don’t completely understand the economics of these street vendors, but I do know that I’ve been seeing them all over Europe — at least where we’ve been and at least in big cities, and without fail in any locale that attracts lots of tourists. They were around in London. In Paris they seem to have perfected the art of evading the police while selling little Eiffel Tower trinkets, and here in Florence they sell odd little toys, selfie sticks, and “art.”

In Florence I mostly saw a small range of trinkets for sale: prints of somewhat gaudy paintings (more on that subject in another forthcoming photograph), the ubiquitous selfie sticks, some little balloon-like toy that they smash on the ground and allow to resume its original shape, and lighted toys to toss in the air. These guys can’t possibly be making a lot of money, and I don’t envy them having to make a living this way. This small group of them was standing and waiting in a shaded area right next to an area extremely crowded with tourists.

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: People, Photographs: Urban/Street

The Train Guys

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The Train Guys
Subway rail fans waiting at the station for the historic “nostalgia” train, Manhattan

The Train Guys. New York City. December 27, 2015. © Copyright 2015. G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Subway rail fans waiting at the station for the historic “nostalgia” train, Manhattan

A few days earlier we visited the Subway Museum in Brooklyn, where we had a chance to wander through a bunch of old to very old historic subway cars. I was fascinated by how old some of the rolling stock is, and by the history of the system that I had not known about. I was also a but surprised to realize that some of the trains currently still on the tracks have been there for a long time. A big draw at the museum is the fact that the old subway cars are parked in this old station and one can wander in and out of them.

With this visit fresh in our minds we decided to catch the historic “nostalgia trains” event that brings many of these trains out of the museum and runs them on the subway system for one day in December. Not surprisingly this draws out lots of fans of New York history and a lot of “train people.” (It also surprises a few folks who don’t know what is going on when these really old trains arrive at their stations!) I’m not sure what it is about train people, but the seem to stand out. These guys had apparently ridden the train partway up Manhattan, crossed to the adjacent platform, and were now waiting to the train to come back for their return trip.

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.