Tag Archives: sidewalk

Photographs: France, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Wall, Rue de Braque

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Wall, Rue de Braque
Detail of a wall next to sidewalk on Rue de Braque, Le Marais, Paris

Wall, Rue de Braque. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Detail of a wall next to sidewalk on Rue de Braque, Le Marais, Paris.

I photographed this little vignette while walking around Le Marais in Paris during our visit last summer. We stayed on the edge of this historic district of old buildings and very narrow streets, and we had lots of opportunities to walk everywhere. I’m happy to simply wander here, looking and seeing what shows up.

The street name caught my attention, of course, and to my eye (which is not profoundly sophisticated when it comes to art history) the color palette and the shapes brought to mind the work of the artist himself. I would usually choose to photograph in earlier or later soft light, but I’ve learned to like the start summer light here, too.

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: France, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Paris Street, Midday Light

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Paris Street, Midday Light
Two figures in midday along a street in Le Marais, Paris

Paris Street, Midday Light. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two figures in midday along a street in Le Marais, Paris.

Le Marais, in Paris, if full of visual delights. This area was “left behind” when much of central Paris was modernized, so you won’t find the wide boulevards and open views. Instead there are very narrow streets — often barely wide enough for a single vehicle, and that only because sidewalks are barely a foot or two wide. The buildings are old, often leaning at odd and interesting angles.

This photograph is a bit unusual in that I made it in full midday sun. I would most often not do a lot of photography at such a time of day, but I liked the stark quality of this light, and I thought that it could work as a black and white image.

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.

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

Photographs: France, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

A Paris Corner

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A Paris Corner
A scene in a corner where two buildings meet along a Paris sidewalk

A Paris Corner. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A scene in a corner where two buildings meet along a Paris sidewalk.

No big Europe trip for us this summer — we’re staying much closer to home this time around. But last summer we spent close to seven weeks traveling, almost all of it in the UK and Europe. We spent the largest portion of the time in France, between a return to Paris, a week with family at a more rural location, and a final extremely brief pass through Paris on our way to flying back home.

During our Paris visit we stayed right on the edge of Le Marais this time. The hotel wasn’t anything special — a tiny place crammed between other buildings — but the location was excellent for us. As some of you may guess, we were within easy walking distance of pre-fire Notre Dame, the Left Bank, the Siene (obviously), museums, lots of places to eat (but of course, it is Paris!) and Le Marais itself. The latter is a wonderful area that was not rebuilt as part of the Parisian efforts to modernize the city, so there are many very narrow streets and lots of old buildings, especially once you get away from the most popular areas. There are little gems to be found almost everywhere, including the fun street art that is found all over the place.

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.

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

Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Purple, Green, Blue, And Red

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Purple, Green, Blue, And Red
Objects along the sidewalk, San Francisco

Purple, Green, Blue, And Red. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Objects along the sidewalk, San Francisco.

Given its title, it should be obvious that this photograph is, at least in part, about the colors I found in this little downtown San Francisco scene. The specific location probably isn’t too important, though it is a central city area that is not one of great wealth and privilege, but which is perhaps under some pressure from the developmental forces currently bringing radical changes to the qualities that made this city famous.

Sometimes I just make photographs without analyzing too much, and you could look at a photograph like this in much the same way. But sometimes I do ask myself questions, such as “Why would I want to photograph something like this?” The answer is too complex for a two-paragraph web post — and I’m not sure that I know the complete answer — but I do know that I’m looking for order relationships among things that might not be objectively related. (Here those elements include the conjunctions of color and objects.) I’m also, I think, trying to see things for “what else they might be.”

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.

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