Graffiti has always been linked to the underground world, to the delinquent and illicit behavior of bandits who mark their territory in brightly colored gang symbols. Like a poisonous tree frog vibrantly displays its colors in the wild in order to ward off intruders, the marking of territory and danger zones lead us to understand a little bit more about the history of graffiti writing. While this still carries true in many places, that is not the case of the many displays of graffiti art we find in the city of San Francisco today. Due to the complaints of many, the city set out in 2005 to spend approximately two million dollars a year on the abatement of graffiti.
I, on the other hand, believe the writings of graffiti are often seen as misunderstood forms of art, forms of distinctive individual expression that often goes unnoticed in such a city filled with hustle and bustle. It is not often that you will find the common city-goer really taking the time to stare and decipher the words that color the cement walls. In fact, the usual bystander will most likely simply dismiss it as juvenile art, probably done by someone who needs something productive to do in his/her life. On the contrary, many of these random and seemingly undecipherable letters are, created by artists and activists, in an attempt to get their personal messages out, whatever they might be.
Inspired by the movie, Piece by Piece; an underground look into the misunderstood world of San Francisco graffiti and all the controversies surrounding it, I decided to set out and capture some words of my own. Because much of the storm surrounding this mysterious art form has to do with its colorful defacement of city property, I was hesitant to take the shots in black and white; thus, my reasoning for encapsulating these vivid works of art on a digital SLR.
Although I was initially pleased with the way my graffiti pictures turned out, I thought there was something else I could add to the art in order to make it stand out even more to the everyday bystander. Currently experimenting with Adobe Photoshop, I decided to play around with the photographs in an attempt to make the writings stand out even more. However, while casually flipping through one of my magazines, JPG, a quote jumped out at me. Ben Roberts, a photographer from the UK featured in the magazine, wrote, “A photograph of some graffiti is not street photography. It’s a photograph of some graffiti.” A tad bit offended, however, nonetheless standing corrected, I decided to return to my prints to see else I could perhaps turn some of my reject pieces into my own individual creation.
Like Susan Stilton, I chose to create art from art. I manipulated some photographs I thought were not strong enough to stand as they were. Because my prints were digital and I was using Photoshop, the medium’s flexibility and printmaking process allowed me to accurately distort the images in a way that was my own.
After spending a long time trying to decipher what the words written on those walls mean, I still, to no avail, have them figured out. However, I do believe not all graffiti should be considered acts of vandalism. Quality graffiti writing takes time and talent to cultivate and I trust that it takes an artist’s mind in order to envision, let alone craft, some of these graphic symbols and drawings we find all over this city by the bay.
