Tag Archives: sidewalk

Photographs: Chicago, Photographs: Urban/Street

Urban Flower Hunter

November 2, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Photographing flowers in a Chicago urban garden

In this photograph a woman kneels to make close-up photographs of flowers in an urban garden at Chicago’s Millennium Park. Not just any woman, by the way, but my wife! Aside from that obvious factor, there are several other things that I like about this scene and this photograph, some of them photographic and others more about the facts of the image.

Most people would pass right by such an urban garden. Some will notice it and perhaps look a bit. But a person who stops and looks close, as Patty does, can find a whole world to see in such a small place. In this photograph I also like the juxtaposition of the sharp angles and structures of the downtown Chicago skyline, with colors muted by hazy afternoon, and the wild and unpredictable organic forms and colors of the bit of garden. It doesn’t hurt that her red top complements the greens, either!

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Photographs: Chicago, Photographs: Urban/Street

Cloud Gate

September 21, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Chicago’s Cloud Gate reflecting the city skyline

The Cloud Gate sculpture is one of the iconic sights of downtown Chicago, visited by many people and photographed by almost all of them! It stands in an accessible and central section of the lakeside Millennium Park, just across the street from central downtown areas. We wandered past twice on two different days as we walked around this area during our visit. (There are other fascinating public art installations in the surrounding area, too.)

The sculpture is impressive in photographs, but I did not realize how large it is in person. It is remarkable in a number of ways, not the least of which is the effect it has had on the public consciousness. In a purely objective sense, the existence of such a huge, unbroken and curving reflective surface is a marvel. And it is also, to be plain, a lot of fun — it is hard to imagine how anyone could resist playing around with the distorted reflections it produces. Having seen so many photographs of the thing I first resisted the temptation to shoot it, instead just looking. Then I thought that it might be interesting to photograph the ways that people interact with the sculpture, so I took the camera out and started shooting.

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Schnitzel Truck Line

September 13, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Workers line up at a Manhattan schnitzel truck

I had just stopped nearby to grab a quick coffee and some breakfast, but these downtown workers were apparently already lining up for schnitzel at this mid-morning hour. Food carts and food trucks are ubiquitous in this part of Manhattan, though most are the standard hot dog and pretzel (and more) places. This one offered something a bit different from the usual fare.

The truck itself caught my attention — it isn’t every day that you catch a schnitzel-selling food truck. But there were several other visual elements that seemed interesting to me as well. In a purely visual sense, the complex pattern of the tree shadow on the concrete was striking, almost as if the pattern was part of the sidewalk. (As I shot it I thought about how this “pizza light” might pose similar challenges when photographing in the forest.) The people, obviously, also were intriguing. Except for the second guy in line, who apparently doesn’t want to risk losing his place, each person keeps a rather large distance between himself and the others. The guys at the back of the line busy themselves with their smartphones, and all four of them are visually almost identical, except that one of them is not wearing a pink shirt.

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Wall, Man Walking

September 7, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A man walks on a painted sidewalk in Manhattan, New York City

I made this little “grab shot” along a narrow and curving street in New York City’s Chinatown district, probably as we were waiting for others to arrive for dinner at a neighborhood restaurant. Given the way my photographic eye works, I first noticed the pattern from the metal door and brick walls, with lines converging as the sidewalk traveled further down the street. I picked this spot because of some of the things that interrupted that pattern — the spilled paint on the sidewalk, the doors, and the utility pole.

Then I waited and watched. In almost all cases it will be little more than a moment or two before someone interesting wanders into this urban landscape and humanizes it in one way or another. I got lucky here, as this fellows attire fit with the colors of the existing scene, and I was able to photograph him just as he passed and walked across the paint-spill section of the sidewalk, with his face invisible to the camera.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: sidewalk

Urban Flower Hunter

Cloud Gate

Schnitzel Truck Line

Wall, Man Walking

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.