Tag Archives: window

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

House with Window, Purple Trim, and Plastic Tree

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House with Window, Purple Trim, and Plastic Tree
House with Window, Purple Trim, and Plastic Tree

House with Window, Purple Trim, and Plastic Tree. San Jose, California. January 30, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An old suburban home with barred window, purple trim, brick steps, and plastic Christmas Tree – San Jose, California.

I made this photograph on a late afternoon/early evening “photo walk” from my home. This is an interesting and perplexing building. It is a very unusual home, as you can see from the unusual room line and the shapes at the end of the rounded eaves. Someone perhaps once put a lot of thought and effort into creating such an unusual building – unlike most others in the area. But as the place has aged the result has not been wholly wonderful. The purple paint isn’t necessarily a bad thing – just a bit unusual – but it is quite worn. The tiny plastic Christmas tree to the right of the front door is a strange touch; it still has a very small string of lights attached. And things are a bit off-kilter. The room angles don’t quite match up and the grate over the window tilts to one side. Although this was originally a home, I can’t really tell for sure if it is still a home or if it has become some sort of office or business.

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

Couple With Umbrellas, Getty Center

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Couple With Umbrellas, Getty Center
Couple With Umbrellas, Getty Center

Couple With Umbrellas, Getty Center. Los Angeles, California. December 30, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of a couple with umbrellas walking one behind the other across a sidewalk on a rainy day at the Getty Center, Los Angeles.

I posted another photograph from this sequence a few weeks back. During our late December visit to the Getty Center I found a spot under an overhang that kept the rain off of me and my gear and I picked out a scene full of vertical structures – windows, walls, distant buildings, columns – and waited as other visitors to the Center walked through this little window of light. Out of perhaps a couple dozen exposures I came up with several I like including this one of a couple with umbrellas.

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, black and white, monochrome, man, woman, couple, walk, umbrellas, folded. walk, sidewalk, railing, window, wall, stone, column, tree, garden building, architecture, reflection, flag, column, travel, rain, mist, fog, cloudy, square, stock

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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