Tag Archives: Silicon

Photographs: Music & Musicians

Baton and Score

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Baton and Score
A musical score and baton at the ready on the conductor’s stand.

Baton and Score. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A musical score and baton at the ready on the conductor’s stand.

Today I’m changing things up a bit and posting a photograph that is not at all like what I typically share. The photograph comes from a project I worked on over the course of three years, during which time I was “embedded” with a couple of professional classical music groups, a symphony orchestra and a chamber orchestra. It was a special and, I think, unusual experience. Lots of people photograph musicians, but I was able to hang out backstage and photograph the parts of musicians’ work and lives that you don’t see from the stage.

In the photograph is the score to one of composer Kurt Weill’s compositions. Because I had fairly free rein to photograph almost anything I was able to wander onto the stage during breaks and photograph vignettes containing items associated with the work of the musicians. A musical score is a completely remarkable thing. It uses a written language that most do not understand, and it notates not text (for the most part) but instead indicates pitches, dynamics, techniques, rhythm, and more — yet it leaves a lot to the interpretation of the musicians individually and collectively. The conductor’s score contains a remarkable density of information. I used to keep a print of two pages of a score by Ravel on my office wall, and it never ceased to amaze me that those two pages, with hundreds of notes and other indications, contained only a few seconds of sound.

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: Music & Musicians

Double Bass, Backstage

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Double Bass, Backstage
Double Bass, Backstage

Double Bass, Backstage. San Jose, California. May 14, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A double bass rests back stage during a break in a rehearsal of Symphony Silicon Valley

This is a photograph from my ongoing project related to classical music performing groups and the musicians who belong to them. It falls into a category I have mentioned before, namely photographs of people and things that happen to turn up in the small areas of interesting backstage light that I have discovered. As I have worked several venues over the past two years I have gotten to know many things about them intimately, and one of those things is the location of the many little unexpected pools of interesting light. Sometimes I “stalk” those spots, just waiting for someone or something to happen there, and I always check them as I walk around the theater with my camera.

This is, obviously, a visually simple image—just a double bass lying on its side during a break in a rehearsal. (I was attracted by the contrast between the warm colors and interesting textures of the instrument and the “industrial” surroundings with their signs of heavy use and even minor damage.) From my point of view, however, it could lead to thoughts of a whole range of other things. I’m fascinated by what an instrument is and what it isn’t. Instruments, musical and otherwise, are often remarkable things in that they allow us to do things that we can’t otherwise do with our minds and bodies alone. The instruments of classical (and many other types of) music are fundamentally pretty simple things and often the result of some really “primitive” technologies, yet they are remarkably adapted to the purposes for which they are intended, generally as a result of a long and complex evolutionary process. But in the end, I would argue that even the most beautiful and sophisticated instrument is no more than a tool, and the really interesting things are how the tool is used by a person or persons to produce something far more meaningful and interesting than the instrument itself.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Music & Musicians

Cymbals

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Cymbals
Cymbals

Cymbals. San Jose, California. May 14, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Cymbals on a rack, ready for use at a Symphony Silicon Valley rehearsal

The percussion section of a classical symphony orchestra, especially when somewhat modern music is performed, can be a rich source of photographable objects, shapes, colors, texture, and reflections. Between pieces, or during breaks, I get to stalk the stage and have free rein to wander around that find and photograph these interesting objects.

The subject here is pretty straightforward. When not being played, cymbals are kept safely (and quietly!) stashed on covered tables or in holders. Here a line-up of multiple cymbals was in racks, waiting to be picked up and played.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Music & Musicians, Photographs: People

Conductor Guillermo Figueroa

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Conductor Guillermo Figueroa
Conductor Guillermo Figueroa

Conductor Guillermo Figueroa. San Jose, California. January 22, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Conductor Guillermo Figueroa directing a rehearsal of the Symphony Silicon Valley

This is one of the photographs from my three-year project photographing professional classical musicians. As part of the project, which is now in its second year, I have been “embedded” with the Symphony Silicon Valley (the descendent of the former San Jose Symphony). Most of my photography has been during rehearsals, when I can work fairly freely backstage, photographing musicians in ways that they are not usually seen. Most people have a limited familiarity with classical musicians, mostly seeing them from a distance in performances when they are formally attired. One of the goals of the project is to show aspects of their lives and work that are not seen as often – the rehearsals, what goes on backstage, even what they do between rehearsals and concerts.

There is a lot of photograph in this world! I’m fortunate not only to have the cooperation of this wonderful group of musicians (thanks SSV people!) but to be personally very familiar with this world. My training is in the field of music. At one time I played professionally, and at another point I worked as an orchestra stage manager. So I have developed some sensitivity to music and musicians that might be difficult for other photographers to achieve. Many interesting things happen so quickly that you might not even see them if you did not know to look. The work of the conductor is but one example. From instant to instant the conductor’s facial expression changes, sometimes radically, to both respond to and anticipate changes in the music. The position and motion of the hands and, for that matter, the whole body, conveys important but fleeting cues to musicians. I studied conducting a bit at one time, but I think I have learned more about it in the past two years by closely watching and becoming aware of the visual elements of the conductor’s work. Layered on top of that is the basic photographic need to be constantly aware of light, both in the technical and expressive sense, and how to place the subject in a context that “works” visually. This is a very different sort of work that photographing landscapes, but it is equally challenging and rewarding!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.