Category Archives: Photographs: New York City

Mural, Caution Tape

Mural, Caution Tape
Caution tape and a few cones witha giant street mural on the side of a brick building, Manhattan.

Mural, Caution Tape. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Caution tape and a few cones witha giant street mural on the side of a brick building, Manhattan.

I’m not sure how others see and react to murals like this one in Manhattan, but I respond in several different ways. Sometimes I just see them as what they are — essentially large paintings (or equivalents of painting) displayed outdoors — and I think of them as, essentially, not part of their surroundings but as things that stand alone. At other times I do see them in the context of their surroundings, and when I do the result can be carrying. This one feels more like the latter case to me.

The mural, by Emmanuel Jarus, is near the UN Building in midtown Manhattan. I think it is supposed to produce a sort of uplifting response in viewers, and I’m certainly fine with that. But I saw it more as an element in a complex scene of shapes and colors that includes the intrusion of the sunlit balconies at the right and the odd color and context juxtaposition with the “emergency colors” of the pylons in front of the two benches.


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.

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Burger Man

Burger Man
Pedestrians waiting to cross a Manhattan street by the “Burger Man Food Court.”

Burger Man. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

Pedestrians waiting to cross a Manhattan street by the “Burger Man Food Court.”

You might be starting to feel the symptoms of a case of photography whiplash if you’ve been following along recently… as I have alternated photographs from some rather diverse subjects: One day it is a backcountry Sierra Nevada photograph, then next something from New England, and after that another street photograph from Manhattan. By now you know that I don’t constrain myself to one genre or subject, and that has certainly been the case over the past month or two. I will, in fact, continue a bit longer.

This photograph comes from New York City, in case you hadn’t already figured that out. We were there for a few days in August before we headed up to Vermont for a weeklong family event. There’s obviously lots to do in Manhattan and the rest of New York City… but for me that “lots” inevitable includes street photography. The genre can focus on a lot of different things, including the wildly divergent subjects found on urban streets. I may also, as others have noted, provoke you to ask some questions about what you are seeing.


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.

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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.

Mural, Parking Lot

Mural, Parking Lot
A large mural featuring two faces, above a Manhattan parking lot.

Mural, Parking Lot. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A large mural featuring two faces, above a Manhattan parking lot.

One of the things I like to do while making street photograph is look for odd, unusual juxtapositions. There are plenty of these in virtually any big city environment, since these places usually bring together a wide variety of people, activities, structures, and more. Street art and murals add another image element to the mix. There are some oddly disparate elements here: the two large figures, cars on lifts, and a couple of people at the lower left.

The mural on this building’s wall features two figures overlooking the street in a somewhat ominous manner. I don’t know the identity of the one on the right but the one on the left appears to be from Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” — which injects an interesting flavor into this street scene. There are other elements here that I find fascinating. I’ll leave most of them to viewers to discover, but that double vertical “dashed line” of windows is intriguing.


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.

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

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Master of All I Survey

Master of All I Survey
A man sits on a bench next to a pile of garbage bags, Midtown Manhattan.

Master of All I Survey. © Copyright 2022 G Dan Mitchell.

A man sits on a bench next to a pile of garbage bags, Midtown Manhattan.

It seems like there is always someone doing something interesting, unusual, compelling, typical, or in some other way worthy of attention in Manhattan. I’m not sure if that reflects on the character of the place or if it is simply a statistical matter — there are so many people there that you are bound to encounter, for better or worse, pretty much everything on the human spectrum. It is even possible to find isolated people, not part of any of the crowds that we associate with the place.

I saw this fellow while walking near the UN Plaza. It was morning — on a Sunday, if I recall correctly — and the area was relatively quiet. There wasn’t much of anything going on along this street, but there he sat, alone and not engaged in any particular discernible activity. In front of him was one of the characteristic morning piles of plastic trash bags, a common feature of this city.


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 | Twitter | Flickr | FacebookEmail

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.