Tag Archives: shop

Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

696

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696
Rollup doors on building 696, San Jose.

696. © Copyright 2020 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Rollup doors on building 696, San Jose.

This photograph is a bit of a study in “accidental geometry” that I encountered while on a walk earlier this fall. The two roll-up doors are almost but not quite perfect mirror images, but the surrounding walls are almost opposites, light and dark, and the whole thing is set off by horizontal areas at the top and bottom. There is one little asymmetrical element in the numbers next to the right door — but even there you can find a certain interesting formal pattern if you look for it.

This probably doesn’t seem like my usual subject, but I can assure you it is the sort of thing I see quite often — more often, in fact, than autumn aspens, rugged seashores, deserts, and alpine mountains. It is the terrain of my regular pandemic walks in a circle that extends across a several mile radius from our home. In one direction I often end up passing through light industrial areas, including some that might seem just a bit sketchy. In fact, as I made this photograph I was standing within feet of the temporary pandemic homes of trailer-dwellers parked on the street.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Shop Windows, Night

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Shop Windows, Night
Lights left on for the night in a shop at the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.

Shop Windows, Night. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Lights left on for the night in a shop at the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.

Returning to this photograph a bit more than eight years after I made it, I no longer recall the specifics of the scene — the nature of the work done in this shop, its exact location, why the lights were still on late at night. I can say that I photographed it at a place where I have photographed a lot over the past 15+ year. During those years I have watched the location change from an abandoned ship yard (which is still its predominant quality) to a place where some of the old buildings have been reclaimed by new tenants. (One impressive old abandoned building is now… a distillery!)

I’m often intrigued by what we can and cannot see when we look through the windows of places like this. I know that there must be a small world in this room, where people work together daily on some kind of productive activity, where they share the language of their professions, and were many of the things I see through the window have meaning that I cannot understand.

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: Austria, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Souvenir Shop, Vienna

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Souvenir Shop, Vienna
Night photograph of a souvenir shop in Vienna, Austria

Souvenir Shop, Vienna. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night photograph of a souvenir shop in Vienna, Austria.

We had plans — still do, sort of — to go back to Europe later this year. At the moment, while we have not cancelled anything yet, it is looking more and more likely that those plans will end up being cancelled. At least I can plow back into my raw file archive from previous trips and go there vicariously for now!

Almost two years ago we were on the road, mostly in Europe, for seven weeks in the summer. We spent a few days in New York City before flying to London for a very short visit. From there we did a large loop through The Netherlands, Germany, and France. Along the way we made four-day stops in several cities, saw three Wagner operas at the Bayreuth Festival, and then met up with family at a big place we rented not far outside of Paris. This photograph comes from our visit to Vienna, and on this evening I went out with a small camera and one lens to photograph the night scene.

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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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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

Closing Time

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Closing Time
A woman places boards over the windows of a business at night.

Closing Time. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A woman places boards over the windows of a business at night.

It has been a while since I’ve done one of these night photography shoots in San Francisco. A few years ago a group of us would get together once per year or so in the late afternoon, photograph in early evening light, typically go somewhere for dinner, and then head back out to photograph at night. We frequently ended up in Chinatown, perhaps because the lights and narrower streets are conducive to photography after dark.

This photograph comes from one of those excursions back in 2015. Since around that time — perhaps a few years earlier — it occurred to me that since I live close to San Francisco and regularly visit New York that I could do a little project around photographing in Chinatown districts of both cities. They are both fascinating places, both draw tourists (though in different ways), and both have a non-tourist life that is even more fascinating. (I see this photograph a bit differently in the wake of the pandemic.)

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.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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