Mitchell’s photographs belong to the
Pictorialist tradition, addressing formal concerns of line and shadow primarily in black and white. She occasionally incorporates graphic media, particularly in images of flowers. the International Center of Photography, the Akron Art Museum, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among others. In perhaps her best-known work, Mitchell worked with the International Center of Photography in
New York City in the late 1970s to mount a traveling exhibition and accompanying book on women photographers.
Recollections: Ten Women of Photography included works by
Berenice Abbott,
Ruth Bernhard,
Carlotta Corpron,
Louise Dahl-Wolfe,
Nell Dorr,
Toni Frissell,
Laura Gilpin,
Lotte Jacobi,
Consuelo Kanaga, and
Barbara Morgan, bringing attention to the previously overlooked contributions of women to photography. Other publications include
To a Cabin with
Dorothea Lange (1973),
Dance for Life (1985),
Flowers (1991), a biography of photographer Ruth Bernhard (2000), and
The Face of Poetry (2005). == Personal life ==