Tag Archives: sign

Photographs: France, Photographs: Urban/Street

It’s Time To Dance!

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It's Time To Dance
Graffiti, street art, and a potted ivy plant, Le Marais

It’s Time To Dance! Le Marais, Paris, France. August 10, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Graffiti, street art, and a potted ivy plant, Le Marais

We wandered into Le Marais, a section of Paris that still retains the old, narrow, and sometimes twisting streets from before the improvements that brought wide boulevards and a logical (or so they tell me) street layout. It is also a sort of “artsy” area, with lots of little shops, the occasional museum, interesting people, and lots of street art. All in all, it felt like a street photographer’s paradise to me. (I made my favorite photograph of the entire five-week trip — and perhaps one of my favorites of all time — here in Le Marais, probably only feet from where I made this one.)

The street art, which includes but is certainly not limited to graffiti, is ubiquitous. Some seems light-hearted, some has a darker edge. Some is political, and the meaning of some of it was opaque to me. The combination of the French language — which I don’t speak and only some of which I can figure out — and English, some of which seems just a bit odd or “off,” gave a lot of it a kind of perplexing quality. For example, the words written around the edge of the black planter down near the sidewalk, which enthusiastically announce “It’s Time to Dance!” I saw these large female dancing figures elsewhere, another visual theme whose precise significance eluded me.

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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Hotel, Narrow Street

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Hotel, Narrow Street
A hotel sign above a narrow Florence street at night

Hotel, Narrow Street. Florence/Firenze, Italy. August 28, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A hotel sign above a narrow Florence street at night

Out for an afternoon walk on our last full day in Florence, Italy last summer, we kept walking as night arrived. We only had a few days here at the very end of a long trip, so we were trying to make the most of a short stay. Our hotel was in the old section of the Florence, so we could walk out the front door onto one of the very narrow old streets and head off in any direction and find interesting things.

At this point, nearly a half-year later, I can’t remember precisely where I made this photograph, though it may have been roughly in the neighborhood between our hotel and Duomo. There were a lot of people out walking on this warm evening, and many other photographs of this street included pedestrians and cyclists, but I think I ended up liking this deserted view with the street winding past the backwards “hotel” sign and then curving out of view.

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: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Toy Apple Beauty Barber Saloon

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Toy Apple Beauty Barber Saloon
The “Toy Apple Beauty Barber Saloon” in Manhattan’s Chinatown district

Toy Apple Beauty Barber Saloon. New York City. August 10, 2014. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The “Toy Apple Beauty Barber Saloon” in Manhattan’s Chinatown district

The photograph comes from Manhattan’s Chinatown district, which we visited on a warm summer evening a few years back. (Actually, we’ve visited the area many times.) We went there to try to eat a place we know, but decided to first wander a bit and, of course, for me this meant I could make some photographs. The area is different from other parts of Manhattan in a number of ways, but to me perhaps the most striking is the narrowness of the twisting streets, which are not laid out in the expected orderly form.

The streets are filled with small shops of all sorts. I think this is a beauty shop and/or barber shop, but the store name is a bit perplexing. Places like this intrigue me in the ways that they are not like modern chain businesses. Almost everything about the place is idiosyncratic — from the name to the cup on the object over the door leading to the lower room at the right.

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: Northern California, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Hi Dive

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Hi Dive
The Hi Dive, Embarcadero, San Francisco

Hi Dive. San Francisco, California. May 20, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The Hi Dive, Embarcadero, San Francisco

San Francisco, a city with a truly interesting past, is being gentrified at an alarming rate. The absurd and explosive increase in real estate values in the region is one indication. Another is the rate at which formerly down and out areas are being “redeveloped” and filled with very expensive real estate.

In few places is this more apparent than along the waterfront north and south of ATT Park, where the Giants play. The area right around the ball park took off some years back, and soon become one of the most expensive areas in the City. (No surprise, given the views of the bay!) More recently the run down areas south of the park have been the site of a huge amount of new construction — run down open areas are now full of new buildings. In a few spots some of the old things remain, including along sections of the Embarcadero where the “Hi Dive” still stands, along with the Java House and (not for long) Red’s Java House.

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.