Tag Archives: modern

Photographs: San Francisco

Museum Layers

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Museum Layers
A somewhat whimsical view of the interior of San Francisco MOMA through a portal

Museum Layers. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A somewhat whimsical view of the interior of San Francisco MOMA through a portal

When I visit museums I often bring a camera along. I’m not too likely to photograph the art — though that does occasionally happen, most often when someone is interacting with it. I’m more  interested in the light and architecture of such places and with the activities of museum visitors, who tend to behave in different ways than they might in other locations.

This photograph is about the architecture, of course, and how it is lit.  quite simply, the portal (outlined in black) was my initial subject, but then I saw the fantastic landscape of light gradients and contrasting colors. The two figures in the nearly central light circle were a matter of serendipity.

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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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Photographs: United Kingdom, Photographs: Urban/Street

Pedestrians, London

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Pedestrians, London
People walk across a large expanse of concrete reflecting blue sky

Pedestrians, London. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

People walk across a large expanse of concrete reflecting blue sky

It has been a couple of years since I made this photograph, so I may have forgotten portions of the story about its creation. We had been in London for several days (perhaps a week?) and were, as I recall, on our last day before heading on to our next destination. We had some free time, so we headed to the Tate Modern, not really knowing specifically what was showing. We arrived to find that there was a gigantic exhibit of Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings. We are O’Keeffe fans and we’ve seen a lot of her work, so we were surprised to find such an extensive showing of this American artist… in London. Unfortunately, we had not left enough time to fully appreciate the show, not realizing how big it was, and we ended up hurrying through.

At some point – perhaps while waiting to enter the O’Keeffe show? — we had some free time so we headed to a snack bar, and nearby there was an overlook of the area in front of the museum. Most people probably enjoy the view across the River Thames here (and we did, too) but I was interested in what was happening in the large open area directly below. It was in shade, so the illumination was from the giant blue light panel of the sky. Some very small leaves had fallen and they produced a fine galaxy-like pattern on the surface. People stood about or walked past. I waited for them to arrive in interesting conjunctions and made a few photographs.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco

Museum Lobby

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Museum Lobby
Visitors milling about in the lobby of SFMOMA

Museum Lobby. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Visitors milling about in the lobby of SFMOMA

It has been a while, and I was more than due for one of my periodic walking days in San Francisco. As per the usual plan, I was out the front door of our house long before dawn, to the train station by bus, and then by train to San Francisco, arriving just before sunrise. There were clouds over the City to my north and west, so I headed to the edge of the Bay, where the skies were clear to the east and early sun shone through on the shoreline and the City. I photographed along the waterfront for a while, and eventually wanted past the Ferry Building and up into the City north of Market Street.

I had a plan to circle back to SFMoMA by late morning, since the expansive Walker Evans show ends there in about a week. I arrived and took a break from my own photograph to view his and that of his contemporaries. (To anyone in the SF Bay Area who likes this sort of thing, go now! There is a ton of work in this show, and it ends a few days into February.) Evans evokes a mixed response for me. I share an interest in some of the subjects that interested him, including certain kinds of shops and other urban structures. His photographs of common tools are exquisite, and the WPA photographs of sharecroppers are really great. Other work impresses me less, and some of the photographs of objects and buildings (though not all of the latter!) impress me at times as being snapshots. But still, there’s a lot of great work in the show, and Evans had a big influence on the ways that many of us see. Once I completed my time in the Evans exhibit, it was time to leave and head back to the train station. But before I left I made a few photographs inside the museum, where I saw for the first time the patters of these lights reflecting on the floor in many places.

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

Inside The Oculus

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Inside The Oculus
Play of midday light and shadows on the walls of the Oculus, SFMOMA

Inside The Oculus. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. July 13, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Play of midday light and shadows on the walls of the Oculus, SFMOMA

This week we made a visit to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) to see and hear the Soundtracks exhibit, which presents objects and installations of sonic art of various sorts. To be honest, I wasn’t that hopeful about this exhibit — I’ve often found that many visual artist’s ideas about sound art can be naive and banal in too many cases. However, the exhibit was (is, and you should go) excellent, with a wide variety of work that is interesting in a range of ways.

In any case, virtually every visit to this museum is also an excuse to make at least a few photographs, often of the architecture of the place. The central “Oculus” structure (which housed one of the sonic art pieces, too) is interesting to me as much for the play of light and shadows on its curved walls as it is for its own architectural form. I have photographed it many times, but being so close to the summer solstice the shadows took on different qualities than I had seen before. Here shadows from the structure of the upper window fall across a curved wall that is perforated by a pattern of large holes.

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.