Tag Archives: shop

Photographs: Austria, Photographs: Travel

Art

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Art
A wall covered with art postcards in a museum gift shop, Vienna

Art. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A wall covered with art postcards in a museum gift shop, Vienna

This summer marked our first visit to Vienna, a place that we thought we knew a lot about — largely from our background in music — but which surprised us in many ways. We arrived by train, and on the taxi ride to our hotel I was stunned by the monumental architecture of many of the buildings and the layout of the city. During our stay we got to know parts of the city much better, mostly by walking from place to place.

And, of course, we visited museums. I made this photograph in one of them, as we passed through a gift shop. Something about this “rack of great art,” reduced to postcard size and juxtaposing a wild array of work, caught my attention. I think you can enjoy it simply as a wildly colorful thing, or as a place to look for unintentional connections and relationships. You could also test yourself by seeing how much work you can identify. You could also muse about the way that great work is transformed into postcards and what it all means!

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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” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Los Banos Donuts

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Los Banos Donuts
“Los Banos Donuts” — Los Banos Donuts shop at night

I can’t be certain, but there is a very good chance that this place was there back when I made my first trip to Yosemite decades ago as a child. I recall my Dad driving us over Pacheco Pass and down through green hills into the Central Valley. (This was before the San Luis Dam was constructed, though I think it was already approved or planned. Yes, I’ve been in California that long!) I know we passed through Los Banos, stopping in a park along the way for a picnic. I don’t know if we stopped for donuts on that trip, but I have stopped here a few times since then.

Every time I’ve passed through this town for the past few years, typically before dawn or well after sunset, I’ve noticed the place and made a mental note to stop and photograph it before dawn or after sunset, its big red DONUTS sign and glowing interior lights calling to us in the darkness. But since I was usually in a hurry to get somewhere — a destination to the east or else back home — I never stopped. Until this season. I finally pulled over and stopped briefly in a parking lot across the street and made a few exposures. I thought the pickup truck was an appropriate touch. (And, no, I did not stop for donuts. This time.)

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.

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Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Friendly Pizza

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Friendly Pizza
A bright red pizza shop on a cold winter day in Manhattan

Friendly Pizza. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A bright red pizza shop on a cold winter day in Manhattan

This was one among a string of very cold days in New York City between Christmas and New Years Day. The light was “gray” (though, objectively speaking, “blue” might be a more accurate description) as a result of this weather and of being in the urban canyons of Manhattan. The streets of Manhattan are often very busy and there is a lot to see, but in many areas the actual appearance of the streets is pretty much all business. Aside from those exceptions — some parks and stores, for example — much of the street/sidewalk scene is more about practical than aesthetics. On a cold day this seemed especially true, except that on such a day the contrast with a shop like this one, with its bright red and yellow colors and bright lights, was perhaps stronger than usual.

I sometimes struggle a bit to explain what I “see” when making my street photographs — I know what I’m after but it isn’t easy to put into words. However, I think this photograph does include some of the elements. I see the street as a kind of urban landscape, where the size and color and relatives shapes of things matters. I’m also intrigued by shops, especially when something makes them stand out. (Here it is the color and the corner location.) Perhaps even more important, I’m always on the look out for fleeting human tableaux that form and are gone — here with the fellow striding purposefully toward the shop entrance, the slow-moving man with the wheeled suitcase, and the woman in the winter coat.

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: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Preparing to Open

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Preparing to Open
Morning on a San Francisco street, as a man prepares a store for opening

Preparing to Open. San Francisco, California. December 6, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning on a San Francisco street, as a man prepares a store for opening

This is another in my small series of photographs made on a recent two-day visit to San Francisco. Since we were there primarily to attend a couple of event musical performances, we had time during the day to combine general laziness with street photography and walks in the area. We weren’t up exactly at the crack of dawn — and then there was breakfast — but we were up and out on the street before things became very crowded.

From where we stayed, the walk down toward the Hayes Valley area near the opera house and symphony hall gradually evolved from a mostly urban residential to a mostly commercial area of shops and restaurants. This market was roughly at the midway point, where there were still residences (of the old style rather than newer condos) but there were also a few businesses, including this corner market, outside of which an employee was doing a quick clean up before, I presume, opening up for the day.

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 | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

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