Tag Archives: pink

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: France

Dumbed Down By Foreign Actors

October 2, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Graffiti on a wall along a Paris sidewalk

When traveling it pretty quickly becomes apparent that graffiti is a pretty universal thing. The amount may vary, but is probably as much a function of how quickly it is cleaned up as it is of the amount of it that is produced. (In some cities, both in the US and Europe, it is pretty clear that no one has bothered to remove it for a long time.) Broadly speaking, it comes in several types. The personal scrawls, or “tags,” seem pretty similar just about everywhere, and I rarely share them. (They also seem like the lowest form of graffiti, basically just a “look at me” or “see what I can get away with” kind of thing.) A second sort is more art/icon oriented and not particularly about text. (My “Je suis bleu” photograph from Le Marias includes such material.) It may or may not be political. A third type includes text messages — though some of the “art” graffiti may fit here, too — seems more overtly political and delivers some message, though the meaning may not always be clear.

I saw these “Dumbed Down By Foreign Actors” scrawls in quite few places in Paris. This one is in Montmartre. I’m not certain what it means, and a quick search didn’t provide any clear answers: is it literally about actors from foreign countries, or is it about (e.g. political) “actors,” or something else? I photographed this example as much for the surroundings as for the text itself. The old wall, painted (and partially re-painted) pink, the barred square area (not actually a window), and the interruption of the power box all are visually interesting to me.

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.

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: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Tree, Wetlands, Morning Fog

December 25, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Merry Christmas 2015!

Thin dawn fog floats around the base of a solitary autumn tree in San Joaquin Valley wetlands

This landscape is ostensibly about the migratory birds at this time of year, from late fall through the winter months. These ponds, which are just fields during the hot Central Valley summer, typically fill with shallow water and become the winter home for uncounted numbers of geese, sandhill cranes, ibises, and more. It was, in fact, the birds that first brought me out here in the winter, and they still call me back every year.

But there is much more to this landscape than photographs of birds. In fact, my strongest sensory associations with the place are not about the visual appearance of the wildlife for the most part, but are instead about a host of other things. And this simple photograph, for me at least, evokes the sensory recall of those other elements. To a person who may not have been here at this time of year, many things familiar to me cannot be contained in the photograph. The sound of the birds, continuous and often raucous, is central — and it is the thing that most immediately gets my attention when I visit. The fog is a big part of the experience — not just its ability to mute the details of the landscape, but also the sensations of cold and damp and what it does to the quality of light, especially at dawn. In addition, this is one of those California places allow me to extend the color season for three months or more. It begins in September in highest reaches of the Sierra, works its way down (as aspens change) to the high desert (with cottonwoods), then the Sierra foothills, then to the coastal hills, and finally to the lowlands where, as in this photograph, “fall” color remains until nearly the new year.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Wetlands Sunrise, Winter

January 15, 2015 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The sun rises above wetlands, barely visible through San Joaquin Valley winter fog

We arrived at this place in California’s San Joaquin Valley well before dawn on New Year’s Day — with some of us having driven as many as two hours in the dark to get there. After the drive, it is always a special moment when we get out of our cars in the cold for warm greetings and hear the sound of cranes and geese waking up in the dark distance. Knowing that the sunrise won’t wait for us, we then turn to unpacking cameras and tripods and to fitting lenses, and then we move out along the perimeter road to find the right combination of birds and atmosphere and light for photographing the dawn that will begin our full day of photography.

This morning was foggy, but not so foggy that we would not see the sunrise. With this in mind we headed to the west side of the wetlands, where we could have a view back across the flatlands and ponds toward the sun rising above the fog and the distant Sierra Nevada. As the sky began to glow we each estimated where we thought the sun would appear, and we found good spots to set up our cameras. As the very top of the orb of the sun appeared on the horizon I quickly made a small adjustment to my location to place the sunrise between the two distant tree silhouettes and to include some interesting foreground water. This was one of the very first exposures I made, at a point where the sun was still so obscured behind the low fog that I could look directly at it — within moments it rose above the ground mist and became extremely bright. I continued to photograph, but in the end this first photograph of soft light, fog, and pastel colors was my favorite.

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.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: pink

Dumbed Down By Foreign Actors

Tree, Wetlands, Morning Fog

Wetlands Sunrise, Winter

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