Tag Archives: urban

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

The Photographer, Queens Plaza

March 18, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A photographer waits for subway train, Manhattan

I actually was not stalking this photographer, though he ended up in more than one of my photographs from this morning, and it two subway stations. We had taken the holiday historic subway train uptown and were waiting in a station for another train, so I spent a little time photographing my surroundings and the very interesting people — a combination of the usual subway riders and a slightly different crowd that came out for this event.

Standing on the platform I kept my eyes open for anyone who “looked like a photo,” and this fellow, standing apart and not interacting much at all, caught my attention. When I saw him here the only thing that gave him away as a possible street photographer was the camera bag, but no camera came out of it. However, later, as I photographed out the train window as it stopped at another station, I made a photograph of several women lined up near a turnstile plus other assorted people arranged in the scene — and I realized later that the same fellow appeared in the shot, this time taking out his camera as he headed to the station exit.

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

Through the Train Window

February 16, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A moment at a passing Manhattan subway station

I was in the train when I made this photograph. I had started by making a few photographs of the reflections inside the car of people standing the aisle, juxtaposing them with the shape of the window and the lights moving past outside. Frankly, that idea didn’t work this time. But as the train moved into the station and stopped, I saw a moving tableau of passengers getting off and coming onto the train. As so often happens, they seem — to me, at least — to constantly arrange themselves by accident into interesting patterns, of shape and form and of activity.

it is hard to clearly explain what I see in a scene like this — I know what it is, though it is hard to articulate. There are three, maybe four main “characters” in the scene, and they all act without any apparent awareness of the others, in true Manhattan style. The woman in the dark coat holding the bag at the left side is facing the train and holding up both hands to make a cell phone picture. Behind her another woman in black is facing the opposite direction, seemingly busy with something she is holding. To the right a man, whose features are hidden by light blurred by the train window, is busy starting to take a camera out of his bag as he leaves the station. In the middle a woman is walking through the exit gate. The light is strange because I’m shooting through dirty train windows and directly toward the source.

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

Bleecker Street Pizza

February 12, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

“Famous” Bleecker Street Pizza restaurant and bar, Manhattan

I always enjoy restaurants and similar attractions that declare themselves to be “famous” or even “world-famous.” (Many years ago a place opened up in the Eastern Sierra Nevada along a main travel route and immediately declared itself to be “world-famous,” as near as I could tell on the day they opened. They must have been able to see the future, since eventually they arguably became so.) A very quick check suggests that this place might be good but might also not be exactly the most famous attraction in Manhattan…

That aside, I love the storefront. The shouting signs are classic, but the subtler elements are also interesting, from the hand-lettered “GLUTEN FREE” sign to the “as featured on WB11” testimonial and the barely visible “Purple Haze” neon sign in the window, not to mention the inevitable Manhattan plastic garbage sacks. It was a cold winter day, and no one was sitting outside at the tables, but I’ll bet things are different on a warm summer evening.

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Hand to Heart

February 11, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

A man on a cell phone outside a coffee shop with holiday decorations

I made this photograph on Christmas Eve day, 2015 in Brooklyn, when we went out to find coffee in the morning. If I recall correctly, we ended up at this Starbucks — though it is possible that we might have just walked past here on the way to another place. The man was probably not the main subject. The wild patterns in the windows were what first caught my attention.

Initially I thought of the photograph as a color image, but the more I looked at it the more the various holiday colors began to distract from the pattern itself, so I decided to go with the monochromatic rendering. Inside there were many people, sitting on chairs and at tables, drinking coffee and checking their laptops. Outside on the cold sidewalk and alone, one man waited for something and checked his phone.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

Tag Archives: urban

The Photographer, Queens Plaza

Through the Train Window

Bleecker Street Pizza

Hand to Heart

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