Tag Archives: new york

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: People, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Flag Vendor, Manhattan

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Flag Vendor, Manhattan
“Flag Vendor, Manhattan” — A flag vendor at the 2022 New York City “Columbus Day” Parade.

This photograph comes from a midday walk in the vast and vibrant cultural smorgasbord that is New York City. There was a time when I imagined that this place would not interest this landscape photography guy from California. But I was very, very wrong. I love New York City, in part because of the contrast with other places I know. But it is simply a place with no end of things to see, places to eat, stuff to do, spots to hang out, cultures to experience.. On this October morning we left our Upper West Side hotel, crossed Central Park to the Upper East Side, then wandered south until we encountered a Columbus Day Parade, where I photographed this sidewalk vendor.

I’m often surprised and discouraged to encounter Americans who are fearful to the point or irrationality that they might encounter someone not quite like themselves, and that this might endanger them. So often, it seems, the most fearful people have the least experience around the “others” they fear. I’ve also visited some of the locations with high percentages of Americans who fear immigrants and people of color… and for the most part they are places where the likelihood of actually encountering those folks is low to nearly nonexistent. Why is it that the most fearful people are in those places, while in places where multicultural America is at its most diverse and vibrant this is largely not the case?

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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Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Free Beans

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Free Beans
A very worn, largely illegible, and graffiti-covere sign on a Manhattan business.

Free Beans. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A very worn, largely illegible, and graffiti-covered sign on a Manhattan business.

We don’t know if they are good beans, but at least they are free, or so we are led to believe. This window, made opaque, was under scaffolding that covered a sidewalk next to the building in Manhattan. Such scaffolding seems ubiquitous to me. I can’t vouch for this, but I was told by someone who should know about such things that the scaffolding contractors like to leave the stuff up since it is less expensive than moving it and warehousing it!

This kind of forgotten urban detritus fascinates me. At some point in the past, someone must have put some thought into the signage, determining which colors to use, what size fonts to use for different text, and aligning those yellow lines that divide it into sections. But neglect, weather, and graffiti have done their work, and today it is hard to even figure out what the sign is about.

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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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

Strolling on Madison Avenue

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Strolling on Madison Avenue
Pedestrians stroll past street vendor stalls on Madison Avenue, Manhattan.

Strolling on Madison Avenue. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Pedestrians stroll past street vendor stalls on Madison Avenue, Manhattan.

We did quite a bit of walking on our August Manhattan visit. We have a (perverse, according to New Yorkers) habit of visiting during August, something that dates back to the days of summer vacation from my teaching work. But August isn’t exactly the most pleasant time to be in New York City… unless you are a fan of hot weather and ridiculous humidity levels. As a Californian, where we deal with the temperatures but emphatically not the humidity, I’m not one of those fans. Fortunately for us, on this visit the weather was actually quite pleasant.

Our walk on this day took us down into midtown, where we first stopped for an outdoor breakfast along one of the thoroughfares. (Here I discovered something new to me: “All you can drink morning cocktails” — you pay a higher fee and get bottomless cocktails for 90 minutes. Uh, no. Just no. We did not do that!) We resumed out walk, looped over and past the UN Plaza and then heading back toward the center of town, eventually heading back uptown on Madison, which appeared to have been closed for some sort of street market or fair.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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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

Mural, Caution Tape

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Mural, Caution Tape
Caution tape and a few cones witha giant street mural on the side of a brick building, Manhattan.

Mural, Caution Tape. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Caution tape and a few cones witha giant street mural on the side of a brick building, Manhattan.

I’m not sure how others see and react to murals like this one in Manhattan, but I respond in several different ways. Sometimes I just see them as what they are — essentially large paintings (or equivalents of painting) displayed outdoors — and I think of them as, essentially, not part of their surroundings but as things that stand alone. At other times I do see them in the context of their surroundings, and when I do the result can be carrying. This one feels more like the latter case to me.

The mural, by Emmanuel Jarus, is near the UN Building in midtown Manhattan. I think it is supposed to produce a sort of uplifting response in viewers, and I’m certainly fine with that. But I saw it more as an element in a complex scene of shapes and colors that includes the intrusion of the sunlit balconies at the right and the odd color and context juxtaposition with the “emergency colors” of the pylons in front of the two benches.

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 | Twitter | Flickr | Facebook | Email

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

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