Tag Archives: urban

Photographs: Urban/Street

Oh See!

Image Leave a comment
Oh See!
An old business sign in San Jose, California.

Oh See!. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An old business sign in San Jose, California.

This is not the first time I have shared a photograph of this sign. In fact, in the past I shared a color version of essentially the same photograph, one in a series that I quickly “snapped” while on a long urban walk. The sign is almost iconic in this part of the world.

You could regard this photograph in any of several ways. On one level, it is a sort of record shot that captures a specific instance of a certain rapidly-fading sort of commercial sign, a one-of-a-kind bit of commercial graphics that seems to be fading from this increasingly urbanized area. I think it is also an example of seeing beyond the literal nature of the thing. When I look at it, what I find most interesting is the relationships between the painted letters and the shadow versions created by the sun shining on the old neon lamps.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Urban/Street

Blue and Billboard

Image Leave a comment
Blue and Billboard
A billboard portrait loomes over urban reisdences.

Blue and Billboard. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A billboard portrait loomes over urban reisdences.

Photographs like this one are sometimes a bit difficult to “sell” (in the sense of “persuasion”) to folks who mostly think of me as a “landscape photographer.” There’s a whole lot I could write about this, and I’ll share a little bit of that below, but one reason that I’ve photographed some subjects like this recently is that they are available to me! I carry a camera while out walking, and every so often something catches my eye and I pause to photograph.

In a sense you could think of these photographs as an extension of my landscape photography into the “urban landscape” that I live in. While the subjects seem completely different, there are connections that you might imagine if you think about it a bit. There is also a practical aspect to this kind of photography — it is available to me simply by walking out my front door, unlike the more familiar landscapes that require more travel and logistical preparation. In addition, there are benefits to keeping my seeing skills tuned up by trying to find things to photograph no matter where I am. Beyond that, there are a few things to ponder about regarding the juxtaposition of elements found here.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Urban/Street

Silicon Valley

Image Leave a comment
Silicon Valley
The words “Silicon Valley” on an industrial building in San Jose, California.

Silicon Valley. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The words “Silicon Valley” on an industrial building in San Jose, California.

This is probably not quite what comes to mind when you hear the words “Silicon Valley.” Although the photograph does indeed come from that place, the location is in a somewhat run-down area occupied by small light industrial tenants. This particular one has mystified me more than once — as far as I can tell the only signage is the two words painted on the wall, and I never seen anyone there. (I’m tempted here to make some pun about letting the chips fall where they may, but I won’t. Sort of.)

Aside from that mysterious sign, I like the simple geometry and the bright color of the building. (It has been sitting on my desktop for a while now, along with several other urban photographs that also feature a particular color.) In fact, I think it may be possible to view this simply as a sort of a color and form abstraction.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Industrial Building Windows

Image Leave a comment
Industrail Building Windows
Broken, graffiti-scarred windows and walls of an abandoned industrial building.

Industrial Building Windows. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Broken, graffiti-scarred windows and walls of an abandoned industrial building.

All around the San Francisco Bay Area — and, actually, up and down the west coasts — there are sites full of institutional buildings like this one. Some are on military bases, some are old public buildings, and this one is part of a historic ship yard on San Francisco Bay. I think I was sort of peripherally aware of this sort of architecture for decades, but it wasn’t until I started a long project photographing the old Mare Island Naval Ship Yard at night that I really began to notice.

Among these kinds of buildings, this is a young one. I don’t know the actual age, but it seems like a mid-Twentieth-Century building, perhaps from the World War II or post-war period? Now it is abandoned, in a mostly forgotten corner of a much larger facility. I was there to do night photography some years back, arriving early enough to photograph it in the last light before darkness came on.

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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

Scroll down to leave a comment or question.

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.