Tag Archives: windows

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Virtual Surfaces

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Virtual Surfaces
Distorted reflections in the windows of a San Francisco building.

Virtual Surfaces. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Distorted reflections in the windows of a San Francisco building.

Almost every time I photograph in big city (and sometimes small city…) downtowns I end up getting distracted by the things reflected in the windows of tall buildings, and by how they relate to the forms of these architectural structures.

Buildings of certain styles and vintages have exteriors that are largely glass. While these buildings have physical forms and volumes, what we see of them is more a result of what is around them than of their own shapes. I’m intrigued by how little of what we see when we look at such structures is actually the structures themselves — most of what we see is virtual, imaginary, and transitory. In this photograph, all you see of the buildings actual exterior are a few non-reflective areas between windows — some dark horizontal strips and a few lighter vertical panels. Everything else in the image is either inside the building (a few interior lights seen through the windows) or a distorted reflection of the building’s surroundings.

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

Industrial Buildings, Night

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Industrial Buildings, Night
Industrial buildings illuminated by secutiry lighting, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.

Industrial Buildings, Night. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Industrial buildings illuminated by secutiry lighting, Mare Island Naval Ship Yard.

This photograph comes from a very old San Francisco Bay shipyard — its history goes way back into the 1800s when it was the first naval ship yard on the west coast of the United States. It continued to be used for its original purpose into the late 20th century, when it was decommissioned not long before the new millennium. Much of it was initially abandoned, though more recently the surrounding area has been revitalized with new construction, new tenants in old buildings, and even some ship yard projects.

I have photographed here for close to two decades — in fact this was the place where I did my first serious night photography. These old facilities (there are many all over the US) are fascinating time capsules, full of construction that is decades old and suggestive of a very different time. At night they provide a fascination combination of quiet, stillness, and mystery.

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

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

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Towers, Windows, Mountains

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Towers, Windows, Mountains
Arches National Park towers and windows, backed by distant mountains in morning haze.

Towers, Windows, Mountains. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Arches National Park towers and windows, backed by distant mountains in morning haze.

The first time I visited Arches National Park, I was intentionally almost completely ignorant of the place. I had sort of connected it with Edward Abbey’s “Desert Solitaire,” but only as a sort of vague background to the larger points of that book. I knew that so-called Delicate Arch was located in this par. But that was pretty much it. So the first time we drove into the place late one afternoon I was almost completely unprepared for the otherworldly quality of the impossible formation in the park.

I made this photograph a few days later, on a morning of oddly hazy atmosphere that muted the details for the landscape, simplifying it and bringing attention to the larger forms. While this is red rock country, that is barely visible in this light. The solitary pinnacle is silhouetted against a panorama of other-worldly towers and windows backed by the barely visible outline of the La Sal Mountains.

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 | Facebook | Email

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

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

Photographs: Austria, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Walking Man

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Walking Man
A man walks up a gentle slope in front of old buildings, Vienna

Walking Man. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A man walks up a gentle slope in front of old buildings, Vienna

Two summers ago we spent seven weeks “on the road” traveling though parts of Europe. We travel on our own — except when we meet up with family members — and tend to sort of wander in whatever places we visit. On this occasion we were in Vienna and, if I recall correctly, the Austrian Postal Savings Bank (Österreichische Postsparkasse), a remarkable bit of early twentieth-century architecture. While I do have photographs of that location, I also make photographs of… things like this.

In cities I usually carry a small rangefinder-style camera with a small prime lens attached, and I often have it ready at my side as I walk. That was almost certainly the case here. I am pretty certain that I initially had been photographing the blocky architecture of this street when I saw this man about to walk into the frame.

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 | 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.