Tag Archives: sign

Photographs: France, Photographs: Urban/Street

Exposition Le Bikini, Wall

June 5, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

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.

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

May 19, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

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.

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

Palm And Tarot Reader

May 14, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The front window of a palm and tarot card reader business

There are many aspects of the urban landscape that fascinate me. It is often far more colorful than the natural world, and there are frequently interesting geometries and compositional potentials. Objects become more interesting as they exhibit weathering and wear, yet they are frequently found juxtaposed with perfectly constructed new objects. Text, in signs and elsewhere, plays a part — ranging from its own geometry and form to possibly ironic combinations. And, of course, the people are subjects and they constantly change. And odd, attractive little oddities abound — as in this little scene.

I didn’t think too much about it as I made the photograph — I tend to work rather intuitively — but looking at it now I’m sure that several things caught my attention. The juxtaposition of spiritual and occult imagery and text was at the top of the list, especially combined with the banality of the location. The patterns of color also interest me, from yellow at the left, through the reds of the window edge and neon sign, to the blue shadow light at the far right. There are also small elements that you might miss, like all of the locks on the door at the edge of the frame. And that doesn’t remotely exhaust the list of things that you could see here…

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

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Great Offer

February 22, 2018 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Pedestrians on a sidewalk in lower Manhattan

A few days ago I wrote a bit about what I “see” in some of my street photography, and I mentioned that sometimes I’m watching for spontaneous and ephemeral coincidences, often involving people who inadvertently assemble themselves into interesting arrangements. To my eye there is some form of balance in the geometry of these scenes, and often at least some implied action — here it is that of persons strolling across the field of view of the camera as they traverse the sidewalk in front of this bank. You might find some other formal aspects of the photograph that are interesting if you spend a bit of time with it. If you do, you might be seeing at least somewhat the way I do. (You might also discover things that I’m yet to be aware of!)

In trying to recall the circumstances of the photograph, I believe that I was first attracted by the simple and even monumental forms of the facade of the bank building, along with the simple geometries of the sidewalk and street. As I often do, I noticed that people were about to enter the scene, so I stopped and tried to make a few exposures as they assembled themselves while moving through.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: sign

Exposition Le Bikini, Wall

Psychic Welcomes You

Palm And Tarot Reader

Great Offer

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