Tag Archives: stairs

Photographs: Southern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Central Courtyard, Rain, Curved Window – Getty Center

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Central Courtyard, Rain, Curved Window - Getty Center
Central Courtyard, Rain, Curved Window - Getty Center

Central Courtyard, Rain, Curved Window – Getty Center. Los Angeles, California. December 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The central courtyard of the Getty Center on a rainy day as viewed through a curved window from the entrance rotunda.

The typical arrival at the Getter Center is via the tram from the parking area, and after leaving the tram and walk up the shallow stairs most people first enter this round, glass-enclosed space from which I made this photograph during my rainy and foggy visit to the Center near the very end of 2009. I shot this view into the wet and almost deserted courtyard through the curved windows using a wide angle lens. I was thinking about several things as I made this photograph: the angular vertical shapes of the outdoor buildings, the perspective lines of the balconies and the pool receding toward the very foggy distance, and the dissonance of the curved window and especially the curving and sweeping “lines” of the window frames.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: getty, center, los angeles, california, usa, museum, winter, travel, urban, art, rain, cloud, fog, wet, reflection, column, window, pane, curve, floor, tree, table, chairs, umbrellas, mist, building, architecture, structure, balcony, railing, stairs, person, fountain, water, sign, stock, rembrandt, his, pupils, exhibit

Photographs: People, Photographs: Southern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Curved Windows, Stairs, and Reflections – Getty Center

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Curved Windows, Stairs, and Reflections - Getty Center
Curved Windows, Stairs, and Reflections - Getty Center


Curved Windows, Stairs, and Reflections – Getty Center. Los Angeles, California. December 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

View through curved windows into the central rotunda at the Getter Center with stairs, people, and reflections.

This and a few of my other recent Getty Center photographs are at least partially “about” complexity of several sorts. This isn’t a simple image. I saw quite a few things here when I made it. I may have first been drawn to the reflections on the curving windows of this central building at the Center – it is the first building you enter as you come up from the tram, here photographed from the inner courtyard on the other side of the building. The reflections become almost as solid as some of the other elements since these “other” things are distorted both in shape and color by the windows. I also liked the zigzag pattern of the interior stairway and the two figures at the top balanced by the single sitting figure at the bottom and perhaps the walking figure near the right side. The light was interesting. It was a cloudy and rainy day. (In a full-size image you can see the raindrops on the foreground window.) Besides the odd green cast – more on that in a moment – because the light was diffused and coming from all directions in these misty and rainy conditions, I had a better chance to balance the exposure between the inside and outside areas. There are curves everywhere in the scene – starting with the curving windows, including the curving staircase, the outline of the round interior space, the far curved windows seen clearly in the upper part of the frame, and so on. Finally, as I thought about what to do with the narrow triangle of outside sidewalk at the lower left, it occurred to me that having it there enhanced the odd quality of the green-windowed interior space, and this space even began to remind be a bit of a giant aquarium.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: getty, center, los angeles, california, usa, museum, winter, travel, urban, art, rain, drop, wet, curved, window, frame, architecture, structure, building, rotunda, stairs, steps, railing, people, man, woman, reflection, silhouette, sky, complex, green, light, travel, stock, walk, stand, sit, bench, column

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Columns, Wall, and Walkway

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Columns, Wall, and Walkway
Columns, Wall, and Walkway

Columns, Wall, and Walkway. The Getty Center, Los Angeles, California. December 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Columns, wall, and walkway on a rainy day at the Getty Center, Los Angeles, California.

I have photographed this spot before, and it is a bit strange that I shoot it regularly when I visit the Getty. It is not exactly a prominent location at the Center – it is at the bottom of the stairs near the entrance to the cafe. I’m sure most people would just walk right past it, and I wouldn’t blame them given all of the obviously spectacular settings at the Center. However, I’m attracted to the three light colored poles, the reflective floor (especially in light rain), the angles of the walkway, and the way the far wall is lit.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: getty, center, los angeles, california, usa, museum, winter, travel, urban, art, column, cylinder, panel, rock, stone, wall, floor, reflection, railing, walk, walkway, stairs, tree, black and white, architecture, structure, light, relief, line, building, stock

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Wall, Stairway, and Late Afternoon Shadows

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Wall, Stairway, and Late Afternoon Shadows
Wall, Stairway, and Late Afternoon Shadows

Wall, Stairway, and Late Afternoon Shadows. San Jose, California. December 24, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late afternoon shadows cast by a stairway cross a beige stucco and wooden wall.

This is another in the wandering about with only a 50mm prime series shot on Christmas eve afternoon. I have photographed this wall and stairway before, but here the strong diagonal lines of the shadows from the stairs cut across the horizontals and verticals in the image and almost seem disorienting to me. I swore that the lines in the photo were tilted until I checked them against an on-screen grid – and they still look out of kilter to me even though I know they are not.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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keywords: urban, street, structures, stairs, stairway, conduit, wiring, pale, beige, brown, steps, wood, stucco, panel, shadow, diagonal, lines, light, late, afternoon, gas, meter, pole, barricade, sidewalk, cement, parking, lot, asphalt, leaves, litter, trash, garbage, vertical, horizontal, pipe, stock