Tag Archives: sidewalk

Photographs: England, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Urban/Street

Night Pedestrians, London

Leave a comment
Night Pedestrians, London
Pedestrians walk through an area of shops at night, London

Night Pedestrians, London. London, England. August 2, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Pedestrians walk through an area of shops at night, London

I made this photograph on a night when we attended a concert, a somewhat atypical one for us. The event was connected to a group that is, if we understood correctly, trying to counteract the negative prospects of Brexit and related social issues in Great Britain and perhaps beyond. It featured an extremely wide variety of performers, ranging from an opera singer accompanied by a small orchestra to jazz and more.

After the concert we left the venue and headed to a tube station. One of my main goals for this visit was to do some night street photography, so I pulled out my camera and looked for potential subjects as we passed through a commercial district with lots of small shops. Not surprisingly, there were tons of people out and about, and when I saw these two buildings I figured it would only be a matter of a short time before someone interesting walked into the frame. I ended up with the central copy walking almost in lockstep, plus a pair of more furtive figures in the shadows near the edges of the frame.

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.

Photographs: Italy

Street Vendors Standing on Sidewalk

Leave a comment
Street Vendors Standing on Sidewalk
“Street Vendors Standing on Sidewalk” — Street vendors stand and wait along a sidewalk next to the Arno in Florence, Italy.

I don’t completely understand the economics of these street vendors, but I do know that I’ve been seeing them all over Europe — at least where we’ve been and at least in big cities, and without fail in any locale that attracts lots of tourists. They were around in London. In Paris they seem to have perfected the art of evading the police while selling little Eiffel Tower trinkets, and here in Florence they sell odd little toys, selfie sticks, and “art.”

In Florence I mostly saw a small range of trinkets for sale: prints of somewhat gaudy paintings (more on that subject in another forthcoming photograph), the ubiquitous selfie sticks, some little balloon-like toy that they smash on the ground and allow to resume its original shape, and lighted toys to toss in the air. These guys can’t possibly be making a lot of money, and I don’t envy them having to make a living this way. This small group of them was standing and waiting in a shaded area right next to an area extremely crowded with tourists.

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: Italy

Caffe’ La Curva #1

Leave a comment

Caffe' La Curva #1
Sunday morning visitors outside Caffe’ La Curva, Panzano

Caffe’ La Curva #1. Panzano, Chianti, Italy. August 21, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Sunday morning visitors outside Caffe’ La Curva, Panzano

On this lazy Sunday morning in the Chianti region of Italy we had gotten up, made coffee, and sat around for a couple of hours before we remembered that we really needed to do some shopping… and that many things would be closed here today. We did some quick research and found that there was a market in this little town a half hour from our location and that it would be open only for another hour and a half. It was suddenly time to go!

Before we arrived we began to see cars parked everywhere along the road and parking wasn’t easy to find — the result, no doubt, of this being the only market open in the area on this morning. We found parking and walked up the small square, which was jam-packed with shoppers and others. The road continued on into the town, where there was just barely enough room for its two lanes to fit between buildings as it curved past and over the high point on the ridge. Across the street I saw this small caffe’, aptly named for the narrow curve, and I waited to photograph people coming and going.

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.

Photographs: France, Photographs: Urban/Street

Je Suis Bleu

Leave a comment
Je Suis Bleu, Paris
“Je Suis Bleu” — Sidewalk, graffiti covered wall, and women (virtual and real) on a Paris street

Walking some streets somewhere in Paris — sorry, first visit, and I can’t name everything! — we passed through an area of narrow streets, shops (including many that seemed like high fashion stores), and lots of interesting old buildings and graffiti and more. These things, plus light that was changed due to broken clouds, made the area a photographer’s paradise.

Near a corner I saw this example of street art on a wall. By itself a photograph of it would not be much more than a record, but I stopped and waited to see who might walk into the frame. A bicycle and a scooter passed by on the street, along with a few solo walkers, but nothing too special. Then I saw the two women and the young girl coming up the street and I thought I might get something interesting. It was my lucky day — they stopped briefly just to the left of the figures on the wall and two of them turned back to my right to look at something. The red dress was a nice touch, 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” (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.