Hello all, Just heading out on this beautiful day with camera in hand. Never know what I will come back with. I just want to share a few photos of graffiti with you. Did you know that graffiti has been around for thousands of years. Think about it, The initial writings of cavemen was "wall art". An eruption of Mount Vesuvius preserved art from Pompeii, including Latin curse and political satire. In Ephesus, there is graffiti suspected of advertising prostitution. So one can see there is a long history of wall art. In more modern times, circa 1960) Graffiti became the art of political activists and gang members. TAKI 183 became one of the most influential artists. In many cities graffiti is considered illegal and destructive. Large cities have waged massive efforts to clean the art off of trains, subways and buildings. I believe that if these artists would pick up after themselves some of this negative publicity may stop. Here in Beverly, Mass. we have some great examples of graffiti. I have gone out several times to shoot it but have run to run into any of the young artists. I would love to ask them what motivates them to write in the walls. Is there a message behind thier art or is it simply letting of stream and self-expression? I would also like to start a clean-up campaign as there are paint cans everywhere. Anyways, enough ranting for now.
