Tag Archives: old

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Tree, Brick Wall with Window and Pipe

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Tree, Brick Wall with Window and Pipe

Tree, Brick Wall with Window and Pipe. San Jose, California. January 4, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A very old brick wall with a pipe and boarded up window and an adjacent tree catching late afternoon winter light – San Jose, California.

This shadowed wall, terribly weathered, covered with moss, and growing plants where the downspout has leaked is on an old cannery building that is rapidly being “redeveloped” west of downtown San Jose, California. Given that nearby buildings of the same vintage have largely been boarded up and many knocked down to make room for condominiums, I am very surprised that this one still stands and may even still be in use – though not by a cannery. The texture and form of the shadowed wall caught my attention, along with the bit of direct light (and light reflected from the unseen left wall of the building) striking the tree.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: afternoon, building, california, city, county, downtown, evening, san jose, santa clara, urban, brick, wall, old, dilapidated, worn, weathered, moss, plant, pipe, downspout, window, boarded up, texture, pattern, structure, historic, tree, light, branch, leaf, sky, blue, california, usa, cannery, abandoned, industrial, urban, street, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Hub Cap City

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Hub Cap City

Hub Cap City. San Jose, California. January 4, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The Hub Cap City store on San Carlos Street in San Jose, California.

The Hub Cap City has been a landmark of sorts on old San Carlos Street west of downtown San Jose for many years. I think it is easy to see why… :-)

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: hubcap, city, 495, west, san carlos, street, used, smiley, face, open, sign, red, white, blue, sidewalk, leaves, sky, building, structure, architecture, shop, store, business, door, window, display, american, flag, san jose, california, usa, urban, old, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Brick Wall, Pipes, and Stairway

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Brick Wall, Pipes, and Stairway

Brick Wall, Pipes, and Stairway. San Jose, California. December 26, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Weathered brick wall, pipes, stairway, and sidewalk in an old industrial area of San Jose, California.

I found this surprising scene along a loading dock in an older light industrial section of downtown San Jose. I’m always attracted to brick walls, but the wild color combination of the natural brick, the gaudy but weathered paint on the pipes, and the rusted metal of the stairway caught my attention. There are some other smaller and subtler details that probably are only visible in the print.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: weathered, brick, wall, pipes, drain, stairway, rail, metal, concrete, cement, sidewalk, brick, pattern, color, rust, stain, grafitti, magenta, window, puddle, leaf, urban, street, industrial, old, paint, bars, building, warehouse, railing, stock

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Sign, Fabers Bicycles

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Sign, Fabers Bicycles

Sign, Fabers Bicycles. San Jose, California. December 26, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Brightly painted red, yellow, white, and black wall on the old Fabers Bicycles building in San Jose California.

The next few photographs are going to represent something a bit different from what I’ve posted recently – e.g. not natural landscape. Today my son and I went out for a two or three hour urban walk in San Jose, California, wandering through some interesting areas around the downtown area including some old neighborhoods and some very old industrial areas that were originally clustered around long gone railroad tracks. To add to the “sport,” I shot only with a 50mm prime. This photograph is a detail of a brightly painted wall on a very old bicycle shop near the downtown area. It is locally famous for its “bicycle mountain” – a huge pile of probably hundreds and hundreds of old bicycles that used to fill the small fenced yard behind the shop. I understand that the city finally made them do something about this rather interesting eyesore, and today there are still lots of old bicycle frames, forks, wheels and other detritus in the yard but it is now more or less organized on tables and hung overhead.

If you are familiar with my landscape photography and this seems a bit jarring, I think of this sort of thing as “urban landscape.” Although it may seem a bit odd to some, I approach this stuff in a way that is not all that different from how I do landscape photography.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: fabers, bicycles, bikes, shop, schwinn, chicago, yellow, red, white, black, paint, sign, wall, wood, panel, siding, old, historic, downtown, urban, street, california, usa, pedal, wheel, spokes, frame, chain guard, stock