Tag Archives: sign

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Germany, Photographs: Travel

Parken Verboten

Image January 24, 2019 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A textured wall, a window, and a “Parken verboten!” sign in Turnau

Last summer we stayed in the small German town of Thurnau for a few nights. We were in the neighborhood for the Bayreuther Festspiele (“Bayreauth Festival”) — the famous location for performances of the operas of Richard Wagner. We have a “connection” (a relative of Patty’s) who lives in Germany and, perhaps to his surprise, he managed to get tickets. This was an opportunity that was too good to pass up, and we ended up seeing three performances.

Thurnau is not Bayreuth, but when everything else in Bayreuth is booked, Thurnau is close enough! Even better, we ended up staying at Schloss Thurnau which is (as you may have figured out if you know a few German words) a castle in this town. Attending one of these operas is a bit different than going to a “regular” opera back home — they are hours long and each intermission is an hour long, so you use up most of the afternoon and all of an evening attending a performance. However, we did have some time to go out and wander though nearly areas of the neat little town of Thurnau, and I made this photograph of a window, a practical sign, and an unusual wall in the neighborhood.

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: Structures and Objects

Celebrate 75 Years

Image January 6, 2019 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

This photograph could be seen as a lesson and as an example regarding practice… and in a few other ways, as well. I don’t know if much needs to be said about it, but I’ll offer a few thoughts anyway. I made it while I was busy doing what might seem more like “work” photography — documenting the opening reception of an exhibit by my friend Oliver Klink, whose beautiful “Cultures in Transition” exhibit had recently been installed at PhotoCentral in Hayward, California. Mostly I was running around making photographs of various people attending the event and photographs of the gallery space. But every so often I spot something that seems like a photograph in its own right, and I disconnect from the work momentarily to capture that “something.”

This is, admittedly, a somewhat minimal and perhaps even somewhat enigmatic photograph — and it also doesn’t likely seem all that connected to the landscape photography of mine that may be more familiar. There are several ways one could “read” this image, but rather than being didactic about it, I’ll leave the reading to the viewer. What do you see?

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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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others.

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

Garage

Image December 6, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

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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Photographs: France

Le Cirque de Venise

Image September 27, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

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.