Tag Archives: elevated

Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Long Shadows

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Long Shadows
Pedestrians at the High Line Park cast long shadows.

Long Shadows. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Pedestrians at the High Line Park cast long shadows.

In my experience, interesting things happen to the light during late-fall and winter in Manhattan. Many are familiar with the “Manhattanhenge” phenomenon where the sun lines up with streets, but I’m thinking more of the combination of low sunlight angles and midday and afternoon light casting long shadows to the north and northeast of subjects, who appear against a bright, sometimes-glowing background.

Interesting things happen in this light. The shadows fascinate me — they are long and often anngle across the scene. (In some places the shadows themselves criss-cross when the light is reflected from building windows.) To photograph this light I have to walk towards it, and if I’m including human subjects they are often walking the other way — so things happen quickly and I have to react with little time for careful thought. As a result, there are surprises… such as the arm position of the man at the left, who walks almost as if he is trying to balance on a tight rope.

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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Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Urban/Street

Woman Photographing Brick Wall

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Woman Photographing Brick Wall
A woman stands on a bench to photograph a brick wall along the High Line Park, New York.

Woman Photographing Brick Wall. New York City. © Copyright 2015 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A woman stands on a bench to photograph a brick wall along the High Line Park, New York.

I made this photograph on a winter’s day walk along the High Line Park in western Manhattan — the increasingly well-known park that extends along the abandoned path of an old elevated railroad bed. The park is very popular, and even on a winter day there were many, many people out walking along it, and the surrounding neighborhoods were also filled. Of course, there is a lot going on in this Chelsea neighborhood — the Whitney Museum is now open at the southern end of the park, there are lots of restaurants and more along its length, and the north end now terminates at the busy construction site of the Hudson Yards.

When I made the photograph I probably wasn’t thinking consciously about much or than the possibility of isolating the figure of the woman, engrossed in making a close up photograph the bricks, against the small and large patterns of the background wall, with the slight natural intrusion of the tree at the right edge. Later I thought about what she was photographing, and how most people might simply wonder what the heck she sees there, in a place where there is nothing apparent to photograph. This might be a bit of a metaphor for lots of photography, where the act of capturing “something you see” defines your world and presents a personal vision of it to others. And I still do like the complex set of interlocking patterns of the wall, the wooden structure, the window, and the single figure.

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: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Brick Walls, Roofs, Orange Paint

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Brick Walls, Roofs, Orange Paint
Brick Walls, Roofs, Orange Paint

Brick Walls, Roofs, Orange Paint. New York, New York. August 24, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A section of brick wall above old roofs is painted bright orange, Chelsea, New York City.

This photograph was made from the High Line Elevated Park in morning light. If you like the textures and colors and machinery and forms of dense and old urban structures, there is a lot to see and photograph from the High Line. I made a photograph of the same under-construction area in the far right of this frame (not completely visible) a year ago, but that was at a very different time of the day. On this morning, the odd patch of bright orange paint on the brick wall (and the smaller bit around the door frame) got my attention, so I leaned as far as I could toward the edge of the walkway and made a photograph unobstructed by the guard rail.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: New York City, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Old Brick Building and Remnants of the High Line

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Old Brick Building and Remnants of the High Line
Old Brick Building and Remnants of the High Line

Old Brick Building and Remnants of the High Line. New York, New York. August 24, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Remnants of the old right-of-way of the High Line Railway run in front of and old and run-down brick building, New York City.

There is, no doubt, a lot of history in this scene that I’m unaware of – but the visual elements mostly caught my attention as we walked past this spot. On the final morning of our August 2011 visit to New York, we were walking from West Village to Chelsea when we passed this area. My son, who lives in Brooklyn and is obsessed (in the good way!) with walking around lots of areas of New York City and making photographs and noting what he sees, first pointed out the terrace in the lower part of the scene (bounded by the railing) and the steel structure at the lower left. He told me that this was part of the High Line Railroad that used to run through this part of Manhattan. A more famous section of the High Line has become a very popular “elevated park” in Chelsea, but in this area it is pretty much just abandoned and, in places, gone.

I don’t know what the tall and worn-looking brick building is, but I’d sure like to know. My hunch, given the appearance of a former white paint job and the proximity to the railroad tracks, is that it must have been some sort of industrial building at some point.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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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.

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