Tag Archives: street

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: People, Photographs: Urban/Street

Selfie, Reflection

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Selfie, Reflection
Reflection of a couple posing for a selfie, Whitney Museum, Manhattan

Selfie, Reflection. New York City. July 3, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Reflection of a couple posing for a selfie, Whitney Museum, Manhattan

I made this photograph when we visited the Whitney Museum on a trip to New York City earlier this year — the new version of the Whitney located in Chelsea near the end of The High Line Park. We were there at least partly to see the Calder exhibit, but also because we like the Whitney itself. I not only like the place (and this is true of other museums I visit) for the work that is exhibited, but also for the photographic opportunities. There are lots of people to see, and this museum incorporates all kinds of other interesting visual opportunities: the architecture of the building, the outside terraces, the views of the surrounding areas.

I made this photograph on one of the outdoor terraces on an upper floor. The terraces provide open views of Manhattan, and they house large works that display well in outdoor spaces. There are always lots of people passing through these spaces, and this couple stopped to make a selfie photo against one of the sculptures, inadvertently positioning themselves where their reflection also incorporated a slightly distorted view of the Manhattan surroundings. The subject of “selfies” is a big one on its own, and I won’t try to take that on in its entirely here. However, people making these photographs of themselves sometimes seem to let down their guard as they temporarily become almost oblivious to their surroundings and they often assemble into interesting group poses.

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: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Window And Shadows

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Window And Shadows
“Window And Shadows” — Afternoon light forms shadows behind a window at the Whitney Museum, New York City

This photograph was made near a window on one of the upper floors of the New Whitney Museum in Manhattan. At the west end of the upper floors, near the end of the main corridors outside the gallery, there are small windows that overlook the Hudson River and New Jersey in the distance. At some point on every visit to the Whitney I find myself standing next to one of these windows overlooking this view and trying to make photographs. (I have my rituals — I also go out onto the various terraces and platforms outside the east side of the building and photograph Manhattan and people.)

I don’t think it is a secret that I’m attracted to patterns and shapes, and the angles of shadows cast by light coming through windows often interests me. I only partly see a subject like this as what it objectively is — I’m more likely to think of it simply as light and shadow and texture and shape.

TWO

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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: Pacific Northwest, Photographs: Urban/Street

Easy Joe’s

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Easy Joe's
Street scene with pedestrians, Seattle

Easy Joe’s. Seattle, Washington. September 8, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Street scene with pedestrians, Seattle

Today I’m going to insert one more street photograph into what has largely been a recent stream of natural world photographs. (I suppose that focus should not be a surprise during the fall season!) Back in September I was in the Seattle area of several days, mostly on non-photographic business, but I managed to get out and spend some time photographing, too. One day I made it to the North Cascades for a bit of landscape photography, and on another I sneaked out for a few hours of street photography.

I actually have no idea what Easy Joe’s is (or who Easy Joe is or was), but since the text appears in the scene I am going with it. For some reason, this photograph feels like Seattle to me — something about the architecture, perhaps, or the light or possibly I just recognize the downtown location. It also presented a sort of urban geometry that I enjoy, with tons of vertical and horizontal forms, but broken up by the passage of a compact group of pedestrians.

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: Pacific Northwest, Photographs: People, Photographs: Urban/Street

Storyville Coffee

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Storyville Coffee
Patrons sitting at the window of a Seattle coffee shop

Storyville Coffee. Seattle, Washington. September 8, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Patrons sitting at the window of a Seattle coffee shop

As you may have noticed — at least if this isn’t the first time you have seen one of my posts — I like to photograph a rather wide range of subjects. Some know me as a “landscape” or “nature” photographer, but my subjects include many other things: night photography, street photography, urban landscapes, musicians, and more. One line of thinking holds that this is not a good thing — that it dilutes one’s photographic identity and fails to produce a recognizable style. Yet, it turns out that I’m not alone, and lots of other photographers are fascinated by multiple subjects. (Last weekend I ran into a couple of fine photographers and friends high in the Yosemite Sierra, people who have a reputation for photographing the natural world. When I met them they were just finishing up photography of peeling paint on an empty building…) Once they have been typecast, they tend to accept that — since being recognized for a type of photography is a good thing — but they occasionally admit to being frustrated when their other work isn’t understood.

So this is from my “other photography” — the work I do when I spend time in urban environments. It is hard for me to explain the fascination of “street photography” to those who don’t get it, but I’ll try. First, I think we can regard this world as a kind of “urban landscape” — and some of the same attractions of light and texture and color and form are found here. Second, it can be an incredibly dynamic “landscape.” When things are going well, I often feel that I’m in the midst of a continuous flow of people and compositions and their collisions and that there is almost too much to see. The trick is often (though not always) to stay tuned in and to be read to see and photograph quickly. Third, the human layer is something found much less in landscape photography, and it fascinates me. Here I just happened to spot one of the little vignettes that are everywhere in the city — an interest group of people in different poses and likely with different attitudes.

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.