Tag Archives: paint

Photographs: Pacific Northwest, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Textures, Photographs: Urban/Street

Door Knob, Green Wall, and Grass

June 8, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A worn green wall with doorknob, grass along the street, Fremont District, Seattle, Washington.

I made this photograph on my one-hour “Seattle PhotoWalk” in the Fremont District back in early May. A group of Seattle photographs was getting together to photograph between here and the Gas Works Park in the late afternoon and evening, and it turned out that I was in the Seattle area and able to pry open a bit of time in my schedule to meet up with them and explore the interesting photographic opportunities in the Fremont area.

We started in what I suppose must be “downtown Fremont,” right beneath the statue of Lenin. Yes, a statue of Lenin. It is a long story – but the short version, as I understand it, involves a post-Glasnost trip to the junk yard (in Poland) for the statue, its discover there by someone from Seattle who thought it had historical significance, its transport to the US, and then setting it up in Fremont for lack of a better place. Or something like that. (Google Fremont Lenin statue for more.) In any case, from the meet up at the statue we commenced our “photo walk,” and first explored the immediate surroundings. A lot of the buildings right there seem pretty old and a bit worn – though they have also been modified and updated in interesting and sometimes idiosyncratic ways. Take this bright green wall and door, for example! I was struck by the juxtaposition of the garish green paint and the natural green of the grasses that had sprung up at the base of the wall.

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: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Textures, Photographs: Urban/Street

Door Number Three

May 13, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A loading dock door (#3) and a dilapidated and worn side door in a concrete wall, San Francisco.

There is not a whole lot to write about this photograph, except that it is another in a sequence of photographs that I made in a small alley off of the Embarcadero in San Francisco, an alley that extends between buildings toward the waterfront and which has often been locked up when I have walked by there previously. Since it and several similar alley ways were open on this morning, I took the opportunity to wander into them and photograph some of the old buildings that sit on these waterfront piers, focusing mostly on small details.

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Blow Horn and Pipes

May 2, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Hand painted sign and various pipes and valves on a concrete wall in San Francisco, California.

This is one of those odd little photographic vignettes you can find if you poke your nose into the right (or wrong) little alleys while wandering around in a city. I have passed this general area many times before, and had often notice fenced-off or gated small alleys extending along the sides of some of the buildings. I had even attempted to photograph through the fences, but without much success. However, for some reason – or else a fortunate coincidence – on this morning most or even all of the gates were open and I could wander down along the sides of these old buildings with their interesting and weathered textures and subjects.

This collection of “stuff” was next to a door that looked like it might have been used as a loading area, so I imagine that the old “BLOW HORN” sign, hand-painted directly on the concrete wall, must have once supplied instructions to those coming to make pick-ups or deliveries. I still wonder though about the fact that the sign was squeezed in behind this has of pipes, given that there were large areas of clear wall just a foot or two away from this assemblage of pipes and valves.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Street Light, Yellow Walls

April 9, 2012 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A street light attached to the exterior of dilapidated industrial buildings at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.

Given the number of times I have ended up photographing this building at the historic Mare Island Naval Ship Yard near Vallejo, California, you might think that I’d almost be done with it by now. Apparently not. I was back at Mare Island in early March to do some photography with my friends from The Nocturnes (and to drag along photographer and friend David Hoffman). After shooting a newly-accessible area near the waterfront and not far from the Mare Island Museum, our wanderings took us past this building, also sometimes known as the UFO building. (I’ll leave the source of that name a mystery for now…)

These old buildings were part of a very active ship building facility until the mid-1990s when the area was decommissioned. Today many of the old buildings still stand, some kept maintained in their historical state and others now the homes of various industries. As far as I can tell, this weathered building is not occupied, and its exterior is a marvel of peeling paint, wild textures, boarded up windows, external electrical conduits, and more.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: paint

Door Knob, Green Wall, and Grass

Door Number Three

Blow Horn and Pipes

Street Light, Yellow Walls

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.