Tag Archives: metal

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects

De Young Museum, Exterior Detail

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De Young Museum, Exterior Detail - Exterior walls of San Francisco's De Young Museum.
Exterior walls of San Francisco's De Young Museum.

De Young Museum, Exterior Detail. San Francisco, California. March 9, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Exterior walls of San Francisco’s De Young Museum.

In early March I was at San Francisco’s De Young Museum for an event associated with the “San Francisco 1964” exhibit of the photography of Arthur Tress, at which Tress spoke to a small group of San Francisco photographers about his work. (Thank you to Adobe for inviting me and the other photographers. The exhibit continues, and San Francisco Bay Area photography fans and others visiting the area should consider a visit to the show.) Unless I’m heading up there for certain musical performance, I almost always take a camera to The City, and I certainly brought one this time. I mainly photographed Tress during his talk, but once it was over and I left the museum I had a bit of time to wander around and shoot the nearby area.

I started in the Music Concourse, a lowered area in front of the museum that features some ominous-looking dormant trees at this time of year. After finishing there I walked back around the museum to head back to my car, and I passed by this “side” wall of the facility near the tower section of the building. The exterior walls are very interesting. They are apparently constructed of some sort of copper panels that have been “dimpled” in a range of ways that evolve across its surface, and it looks like some of the upper level “walls” are more like screens than solid material. As I understand it, the idea was that this metallic surface would “age” and acquire a patina that might make it blend in more with the natural surroundings of the park. (Though it is hard to imagine that tower blending in!) In the soft light on this shaded side of the building the range of colors and tones in the material was striking, ranging from the blacks of dark shadow areas, to the expected reddish copper tones, to all sorts of blueish shades.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Abandoned Turnstiles

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Abandoned Turnstiles - Night photograph of abandoned turnstiles in the industrial area of the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California.
Night photograph of abandoned turnstiles in the industrial area of the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California.

Abandoned Turnstiles. Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, California. March 3, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night photograph of abandoned turnstiles in the industrial area of the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard, Vallejo, California.

Early this month I had the opportunity to join my friends from The Nocturnes, the San Francisco Bay Area night photography group, for (yet another) return visit to the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard for an evening of nocturnal photography, along with a chance to share work and pizza! I have been photographing Mare Island at night for something like a half dozen years now, yet I still find new and interesting subjects every time I go there.

These turnstile structures are found throughout the facility, and they are a frequent topic of conversation and subject of photography among the night photographers I know. They are intriguing features and there is something compelling about them as potential subjects. Standing along at night they seem forlorn, perhaps in contrast to the knowledge that thousands of ship yard employees must have passed through them at one point. They also seem almost disconnected from the rest of the industrial landscape here. While it is obvious that they must have once been the only entry way to certain areas of the facility, not it is quite possible to simply walk around them. In addition, some mysterious electrical “stuff” has clearly been removed – time card readers? Something else?

It also turns out that they are a surprisingly difficult photographic subject, and I have had many discussions with other night photographers about this. Up close they present an amazing density of interlocking metal features… that are very difficult to assemble into a good composition. I’ve managed once or twice. Oddly, one of my favorite photographs of the turnstiles is almost the very first photograph I made at Mare Island, a black and white close-up photograph of a gate by the island’s museum. For this shot I decided to work from a bit of elevation, setting up on a raised landing in front of a nearby building so that I could look down on the structure and create a sort of surround out of the background area and further buildings.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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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.

Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Bench and Cinder Block Wall

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Bench and Cinder Block Wall - A bench, chained to the sidewalk, in front of a cinder block wall with male/female symbols.
A bench, chained to the sidewalk, in front of a cinder block wall with male/female symbols.

Bench and Cinder Block Wall. San Jose, California. December 28, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A bench, chained to the sidewalk, in front of a cinder block wall with male/female symbols.

This is one of “those” photographs – it probably completely baffles many who like my landscape and nature photography… and perhaps a few others as well. ;-)

I’m not quite sure why I wanted to photograph this little scene. The color palette, mostly fairly drab except for the pink circle, seemed a bit different. The almost random gender symbols (as much of them as you can see) on the wall behind the bench seem odd and surprising. (There was probably once a shop in this building that was connected to that sign, but it is no longer there.) If we want to get philosophical – and why not? – the juxtaposition of an unoccupied bench with those symbols could be read in a variety of ways, and the fact that the bench is cabled to the ground is also interesting. In any case, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | 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.

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

Fire Escape Ladder, Brick Building

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Fire Escape Ladder, Brick Building
Fire Escape Ladder, Brick Building

Fire Escape Ladder, Brick Building. New York, New York. August 24, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

On the final morning of our August (2011) visit to New York City, we took the subway down toward the lower end of the island to meet our son – the plan being to walk though Soho and (I think) the West Village, ending up at a gallery in Chelsea. After taking care of the most pressing bit of initial business – coffee – we wandered on through Soho… and I think this photograph was made there.

New Yorkers undoubtedly know exactly is going on with this light, but for the rest of the world… the morning sun was passing through a relatively narrow gap between buildings to strike this brick wall and partially pick off this green emergency exit zigzagging down the front of this building. In a lot of ways, this isn’t totally different from shooting natural landscapes – go out early, look for interesting subjects, find good light, make photographs. It isn’t totally the same – duh! – either. Not only can you walk here from coffee, but we (my son and I) shot without tripods, and I stuck to a single 50mm prime to keep things simple.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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