Tag Archives: sign

Photographs: Netherlands, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Garage

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Garage
Garage, Amsterdam

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

Garage, Amsterdam

With some photographs I find it hard to explain what provoked me to stop and make and exposure, or even why I like it. Since not everything can be explained — though I may try! — I’ll share them anyway on many occasions. This is one of those images. We were walking quickly through a section of Amsterdam with very narrow streets when we passed this closed garage. At that moment I had the camera out and was photographing quite a bit… and this became one of the subjects.

There is something about the clean and simple patterns of the door, the stark contrast between very dark and very light tones, and the very simple sign above the door. In a world where such a business would more often have signage including a more lengthy and complex business name, plus descriptive text and probably things like phone numbers… this one simply states, “GARAGE.”

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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: France

Le Cirque de Venise

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Le Cirque de Venise
A stone wall, a weathered door, and an advertisement for a circus, near Barbizon, France

Le Cirque de Venise. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A stone wall, a weathered door, and an advertisement for a circus, near Barbizon, France

Near the end of this past summer’s lengthy travels (from New York to London, to many areas in Europe) we ended up in France, not far from Fontainebleau, where we joined members of our extended family for a week at a big old house we rented. After all of the previous travels from place to place, typically stopping in one city for no more than four nights, it was a relief to stay in one place for a week and to have time to slow down a bit.

Near the end of this stay, one morning we all decided to walk to the nearby town of Barbizon. Like so much in France, this place was virtually unknown to me. We walked through some fields and along a country road to get there, arriving to visit the studio of the artist Millet and to have lunch. Along the way I spotted this sign for what I assume to be a traveling circus.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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

Photographs: France, Photographs: Urban/Street

Exposition Le Bikini, Wall

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Exposition Le Bikini, Wall
A very worn and weathered Paris wall, plastered with flyers for the “Exposition Le Bikini.”

Exposition Le Bikini, Wall. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A very worn and weathered Paris wall, plastered with flyers for the “Exposition Le Bikini.”

This is perhaps a bit of a whimsical photograph. As we walked through an older section of Paris back in 2016 we started coming upon lots of these posters. I assume that the event must have happened recently, as the flyers were worn but not so worn out that they couldn’t be read or seen.

I’m a sucker for worn and weathered surfaces, especially when they hold interesting shapes and forms and when there are layers of old “stuff” on the walls. If you look more closely at this you many find bits of old posters on top of bits of even older flyers.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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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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

Psychic Welcomes You

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Psychic Welcomes You
A business doorway with many locks and a surprising message.

Psychic Welcomes You. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A business doorway with many locks and a surprising message.

Another photograph from the San Francisco streets today… Because I live only a one-hour train ride away from San Francisco, it is pretty easy for me to head up there, traveling light with a rangefinder-style camera and a lens or two, and head out on foot to photograph in the City. I did just that near the start of the month, perhaps partly to focus on a subject other than the natural world of Yosemite for a bit!

A little scene like this one can be a simple photograph of a door with an interesting sign, or it could lead you to other observations and questions if you let it. It is, obviously, another example of something I described in another recent street photography post, namely the interesting hand-made business sign that is the opposite of the mass-produced “perfect” signage that we often see. There’s something that is both a bit comic and a bit bizarre about the appearance of the sign and its “Psychic Welcomes You” message. Also, “Psychic” must be having a premonition about a robbery, given the number and variety of locks along the left side of the door! Or perhaps a premonition isn’t necessary — note the previously broken door frame. That, of course, produces another question: What would be so attractive about a psychic that he/she would be the repeated target of burglaries?

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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 | LinkedIn | Email

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