Tag Archives: photography

Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Passersby

September 8, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A couple passes a man with a dog on a San Francisco sidewalk

There are stories behind all of my photographs, but the stories of street photographs can be a bit more involved — they often include not only my own story but also the stories of the events and even the people who may appear. There is a bit of both in this photograph of some people along a sidewalk in the Chinatown area of San Francisco, a photograph made in the early evening at the beginning of a night of street photography. I can’t try to describe everything that might be here, but I’ll share a few hints.

The first subject I see in this photograph is the woman, whose gaze is somewhat averted and whose demeanor does not express complete ease. The young man she accompanies is, obviously, facing away from the camera as she clutches his arm. Look to the left and notice the figure near the lamppost — a man clothed in a tie-dye “robe” (for lack of a better description of his improvised attire), carrying a backpack, and walking a very large and hairy dog. That man was the first subject to catch my attention, and when I first saw him he was behind my camera position and walking towards me. Believe me, he was quite a subject himself, but I am not fond of grabbing photographs of people who seem to perhaps be down and out — that sometimes feels like a bit of cliché. So I let him pass without a photograph, but then instinctively turned to see the scene unfold in the wake of his passage.

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

Photographs: Night, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

A Bar

September 3, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The view through the open door of a San Francisco corner bar

I felt like a bit of a voyeur making this and a few other San Francisco night photographs — but that is part of street photography, isn’t it? After starting in a very different area at sunset — a less touristy area of Chinatown — then working my way slowly down past the gaudy lights and bright shops of Grant Street — I ended up in the popular area of shops and restaurants and hotels near Union Square.

This place is, quite literally, a “corner bar.” It was quiet inside, and I imagined that at least some of the folks at tables or sitting on stools having a drink might be regulars. A few sat alone and a few were in groups of two or more. The most interesting man (in the world) appeared on the television screen. The door was open and I considered that enough of an invitation to make a few photographs.

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

Photographs: Night, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Bow Hon Seafood Restaurant

September 1, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A group of people waits for a table at the Bow Hon Seafood Restaurant.

This photograph comes from an evening of night photography in San Francisco, mostly in and around the Chinatown district. This is, of course, a popular tourist area, but somehow the night changes things and makes it perhaps a bit less tacky — or maybe just tacky in more interesting ways! Many of the shops seem to close down early here, even though this was a weekend evening in the height of the San Francisco summer tourist season.

This is almost one of those “photographs of nothing special,” though I think that many of us can identify with the feeling of standing outside small restaurant in an urban area, talking and perhaps waiting for a table as the street life passes by. When shooting handheld photography at night I seek out this little pools of light beneath commercial signs or in the light spilling our from well-lit businesses.

Photographs: Night, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Tourist Shop, Night

August 30, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Front of a Chinatown tourist shop at night, San Francisco

Like any big city popular with tourists, San Francisco has its share — and then some! — of these little shops whose sole purpose seems to be to sell cheap proof that “I was there!” to folks visiting the city. This one happens to be in the densely packed Chinatown district of the City, right on Grant, but you can find the same thing alone the areas of the waterfront that are on the tourist circuit and in a number of other places.

The items included in the stock of such shops, while often sharing the same level of kitsch and cheap manufacture, are often a sort of study in the ways that cities portray themselves and in the ways they are viewed. Exhibit #1: How about those American flag tights! Wow! It was getting late when we passed through here, and many shops had already closed or were in the process of closing.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: photography

Passersby

A Bar

Tourist Shop, Night

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