Tag Archives: urban

Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: United Kingdom, Photographs: Urban/Street

Blue Door

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Blue Door
A blue door in gentle light and surrounded by a monumental door frame, London

Blue Door. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A blue door in gentle light and surrounded by a monumental door frame, London

A door, somewhere in London, but I’m now not sure where! I could probably come closer to locating it if I were to go back through the rest of the raw files from this day, but I think it may have been near our hotel, which was a short walk from Paddington Station and not far at all from Hyde Park. I know that we went out more than once for walks in this area, including the morning when I believe I made the photograph.

The doorway seems remarkable to me in several ways. The huge framing is quite something, and not much at all like anything you would typically see in the US, at least not in my part of the country. The frame is so monumental that it has the effect of either making the doorway seem twice as large as it really is… or of making the actual door seem very small. The color of the door is beautiful and something of a surprise given the other colors in the scene. And the light striking the door obliquely from the left seems very beautiful to me.

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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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Commentary, Photographs: France, Photographs: Travel

Moored Boats, Seine River

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Moored Boats, Seine River
Boats moored along the banks of the Seine River, Paris

Moored Boats, Seine River. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Boats moored along the banks of the Seine River, Paris

Our hotel in Paris this past summer was not far from the Cathedral of Notre Dame — perhaps a five minute walk away — and we crossed the Seine in this area quite a few times during our stay. Most often this was an incredibly busy area, with crowds created by the constriction of river-crossing bridges and the many areas of interest to visitors.

As we crossed we often had interesting views of the river and the nearby city. From the ideal locations one can look up or down the river, past a series of bridges lined up one after the other. In many places a walkway, here including a few parked car, runs along the banks of the river midway between the water and the main streets up above. Interesting and colorful boats were moored here, too.

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: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Two Buildings, Night

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Two Buildings, Night
Night photograph of two buildings in the historic core of Mare Island Naval Ship Yard

Two Buildings, Night. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

One of the attractions of photographing at night is the way that everything changes and familiar and even mundane subjects can be transformed. Night almost automatically adds an element of mystery to subjects, even when the literal subjects might arguably be mundane. This is partly the natural associations we make with the night, but it is also the objective nature of the light — rather than working under the sun or other forms of light from the sky, we rely almost always on multiple point sources of artificial illuminations. (And exception would be working under full moon light, but that has its own implications.)

I made this photograph in the “historic core” area of the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard in Vallejo, California. For the most part many of the original structures still stand in this area. (Much more extensive redevelopment has occurred elsewhere on the island, some of which has removed the old facilities.) Here some of the buildings have been updated and put to use for more modern purposes, but the general feeling of the place remains. I have photographed in this little alley-way for about fifteen years now. Somethings stay the same and other change, and on this visit I found that I was able to use the new corner windows on the foreground building as a point of focus.

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: Structures and Objects

Celebrate 75 Years

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Celebrate 75 Years
Empty chairs, windows, and a small sign

Celebrate 75 Years. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Empty chairs, windows, and a small sign

This photograph could be seen as a lesson and as an example regarding practice… and in a few other ways, as well. I don’t know if much needs to be said about it, but I’ll offer a few thoughts anyway. I made it while I was busy doing what might seem more like “work” photography — documenting the opening reception of an exhibit by my friend Oliver Klink, whose beautiful “Cultures in Transition” exhibit had recently been installed at PhotoCentral in Hayward, California. Mostly I was running around making photographs of various people attending the event and photographs of the gallery space. But every so often I spot something that seems like a photograph in its own right, and I disconnect from the work momentarily to capture that “something.”

This is, admittedly, a somewhat minimal and perhaps even somewhat enigmatic photograph — and it also doesn’t likely seem all that connected to the landscape photography of mine that may be more familiar. There are several ways one could “read” this image, but rather than being didactic about it, I’ll leave the reading to the viewer. What do you see?

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.

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