Tag Archives: rectangles

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Rectangular Patterns (Horizontal)

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Rectangular Patterns (Horizontal)
“Rectangular Patterns (Horizontal)” — Patterns formed by light, paint, shadows, and structure on an urban building.

This is one of a pair of photographs of the same structure. I’ll bet you might not be surprised to hear that the companion photograph is called “Rectangular Pattern (Vertical).” Working on this pair got me to thinking about a series that I might call “Urban Geometries” featuring such photographs, both from my existing archives and from some new work. You can look at this as a photograph of a real scene or, if you work at it, you may be able to see it as an abstract composition of forms and colors.

The location is an area that was acquired by a (very) big company for a huge future corporate campus. Then came the pandemic. Now their plans appear to be on hold, though they still hold rights to the properties. I suspect, but do not know for certain, that they did some “sprucing up” of the area to avoid charges that they are allowing it to degrade. Right now it is largely a sort of urban dead zone… though it has nice paint.

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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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Rectangular Patterns (Vertical)

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Rectangular Patterns (Vertical)
“Rectangular Patterns (Vertical)” — Patterns formed by light, paint, shadows, and structure on an urban building.

This is the second in a series of three photographs that I made on a walk that took me through an area of urban renewal in my town. A large corporation committed to very extensive building plans, then backed off during the pandemic, and now seems to be trying to, in my view, make it look like something is happening when not much really is. They have painted buildings and put up interesting interpretive signs. To their credit, this is better than just letting the properties decay.

I’m very attracted to strong graphic forms and colors — which I suppose might surprise some who think of me as “just” a landscape photographer. But I don’t see any conflict, and I feel that the interest in such forms underlies quite a few of my landscape images, even though it is possible to look at them primarily as being “pictures of nature.”

Leave a comment or question using the form. (If you are reading this on the home page, click the article title to see the full article and the comment form.

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. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Right Angles, MOMA Courtyard

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Right Angles, MOMA Courtyard
A study in right angles, MOMA courtyard, Manhattan

Right Angles, MOMA Courtyard. © Copyright 2010 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A study in right angles, MOMA courtyard, Manhattan.

This is a photograph from nearly a decade ago, made on one of our semi-regular visits to New York City. For some reason I ended up in the archive of raw files from that visit recently and I ended up working on this photograph. It turns out that it is quite similar to another I made at this same spot, but there are some subtle but important distinctions that convinced me to work on this version.

The camera position is a window facing this courtyard, a spot that most people probably walk right past on their way between floors at the Museum of Modern Art. I think I may first have been attracted by the elevated viewpoint, looking down into the courtyard where people may sit or walk. I also was fascinated by the dense cubic forms of the buildings and the strong perspective lines that they form.

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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.

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Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Tile and Concrete Wall

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Tile and Concrete Wall
Tile and Concrete Wall

Tile and Concrete Wall. San Francisco, California. July 15, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A weathered tile and concrete wall at Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco.

I’ll throw things a bit off-kilter here and interrupt the stream of landscape images from the Sierra Nevada with a minimalist photograph of a tile wall that I made while walking around in San Francisco in July. This may not be quite as simple a photograph as it first appears, and in larger version or print it becomes more apparent that the tiles are varied and weathered in interesting ways that produce a range of textures and colors.

I do a certain number of “minimalist” photographs – some of the urban landscape and others of the natural landscape and seascapes. Sometimes when I’m photographing some of the urban subjects I get some very strange looks from passers-by! I guess it must be hard to imagine why some guy with a fancy camera is pointing it straight at a wall in downtown San Francisco when so many other seemingly more compelling subjects are all around. Or else they might wonder if there is something there that they just don’t see.

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.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


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