Tag Archives: people

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Little Monsters on the Bridge

February 2, 2016 G Dan Mitchell 2 Comments

Little monsters on the bridge

If you wander about in New York City with your eyes open, who knows what you might see? We had an extra hour or so, and since we had been staying nearby for about a week and were only a short walk away, we decided to make a quick amble out onto the Brooklyn Bridge, even though it was cold and raw and trying to rain. The bridge, of course, was crowded with walkers, even in this uncomfortable winter weather. That meant that there were lots of opportunities of people watching and people photographing.

Most people go by so fast that only a quick photograph works, especially when crowds obstruct the view past the closest figures. Oddly, at this spot in the bridge the foot traffic seems to momentarily thin and break, and I could see this small group — perhaps a father and sons? — posing for a rather unusual Brooklyn Bridge photograph. Each of the kids was in a costume and mask of some sort, and the juxtaposition of these “little monsters” with the bridge was a surprise.

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

Walking in Rain

January 28, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Three pedestrians share an umbrella on a rainy New York morning

My recollection is that we had gone to sort of the East Village area on this morning, first to find some pastry and coffee for breakfast at a place we’ve been to before, and then to wander about making some photographs in this urban area on a cool and wet morning. Breakfast and coffee taken care of, we started walking and watching the urban landscape and its human wildlife.

There is, of course, quite a lot to see, and much of it appears and disappears quickly. I rarely have a lot of time to think about a photograph, and quite often I have to move fast, composing on the fly. When this trio walked past I immediately noticed their color palette of basically black and red/pink and thought that there might be a photograph. We were already walking this direction so I quickly made a few exposures of this group of friends or relatives as they walked along, close together and sharing an umbrella on this drizzly morning.

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

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Pedestrians, Mosco Street

January 26, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Pedestrians walk up Mosco Street on a rainy Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve in Manhattan, and we ended up in Chinatown at restaurant where we’ve eaten on this night in the past — but we discovered that it has apparently become popular since the last time we visited. The wait for a table (for our rather large group) was going to be at least 90 minutes, so we decided to look elsewhere. After figuring out that everything nearby was just about as crowded, we headed down the short length of Mosco Street to find a place with some open tables nearby.

This photograph illustrates one of the things that fascinates me about urban night photography, namely the wildly diverse light sources. Stop and consider the range of intense colors in this scene — the bright yellow light of the old street lamps along the right side of the street, the more neutral light on the left side from more modern lights, the spots of intense red and blue from store signs. Because it had rained, the streets were reflective, and they also picked up the wash of colors. A couple of people walk toward the camera on the left, casting shadows, and a solitary figure is in the yellow light along the brick wall on the right.

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Buddha Bodai One

January 23, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

People assemble outside of Buddha Bodai One on Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve in New York City, and after joining the throngs up on Fifth Avenue we headed down to China Town for dinner, planning to eat at a place that we’ve gone to in the past. We arrived and it was surprisingly crowded and when I asked I was told that the wait would be “an hour and a half or longer!” Hey, the food is good… but not that good, so we set out to find an alternative. We wandered the area a bit, figured out that just about everything on Mott Street was similarly crowded, and then headed off to a different street where we found a quieter Vietnamese place.

While wandering Mott Street to look for an alternative I kept the camera out and made a series of photographs of scenes along this street. It was a great spot to photograph, with lots of people who were often somewhat static in front of businesses and restaurants, and streets so narrow that signs from lights tended to fill in the shadows across the street. For me the elements of a photograph in a place like this include the light itself, whether flowing across sidewalks and into the streets or the light of the business signs; lots of color; and people assembling themselves into interesting arrangements. Here many of the individuals in the group are doing interesting things — a woman pushes a child in a stroller (which, for some reason, is starting to be a motive in my street photography), another woman seems to be slightly off-balance, a couple is in a darker area off to the right, and an older man stands along in front of a stairway, looking alone and slightly uncomfortable.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: people

Little Monsters on the Bridge

Pedestrians, Mosco Street

Buddha Bodai One

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