believe in the spray can.

This next update is focused on the street art scene in the London neighborhood of Shoreditch. This hood was described to me as, ‘the Brooklyn of London,’ and is full of indie coffee shops, asymmetrical haircuts, and ridiculous moustaches to prove it.

Walking around here, it really seemed as though the ‘bobby’ completely turned a blind eye to what I like to call, the liberal acquisition of concrete canvasses, but what the law typically refers to as, vandalism. Suffice it to say, I really enjoyed photographing this area, and quickly focused on the surrounding public art, which seemed to serve as a bloodline and backdrop to any movement in this part of town.

Now, before going further let me say, there are many different perspectives on what classifies something as art, as well as, what the difference between graffiti and street art is. I will not even begin to tackle those arguments here, but I have posted at length on similar topics elsewhere in the blog, if you care to read further on my opinion of these topics.

For now, let us simply keep in mind, that graffiti has existed throughout history, with excellent examples found in Ancient Egypt, as well as Ancient Greece. The unique act of posting an anonymous public statement for everyone to see, seems to not only highlight many aspects of the human condition, but also seems to be a necessary act done by those who feel that the public spaces reserved for art to be inadequate, unattainable or simply separate from everyday life.

That being said, I think my personal interest in street art can be boiled down to my appreciation and amusement of the controversy, creativity, and risk that goes into accomplishing these works. I really enjoy when people take it upon themselves to incorporate a setting or environment into their artistic statement, as well as search for clever and interesting ways to reach the largest audience possible. In some ways, one could argue, that the unedited platform that is provided by a city’s bare walls is a more authentic representation of society, having been done by an everyday stranger rather than a recognized or wealthy artist, as well as being physically among the people and the streets where everyday life exists.

And now, on to the photos, hope you all enjoy.

The things.

(Blogger has been down for most of the week, so apologies for the delay in this post.)


Most of this week’s photos are shot in a certain style and focus on subject matter that my camera and I are quite familiar with. A common theme through much of my photography is documentation and story telling through cities and the objects within them. I certainly love taking portraits and doing a lot of street photography as well, but there is something so fascinating to me about capturing the history of a place, and the stories that can be told or imagined, solely through its present state of architecture.

I find myself continually searching for signs of human life through industrial scenes.
Many of the rough and strong structures were constructed long ago by the hands of men who are no longer here and now seen as broken or outdated, and are abandoned or knocked down by new men and machines. The worn surroundings speak of all the humans over time that have interacted with this concrete, steel, and wood - a relationship that is vital in forming the structure and foundation upon which all cities are based.

The people: their needs, their culture, their entertainment, their money, their dreams.
The places: their service, their appearance, their purpose, their materials, their message.

The people, the places, the things.

even stranger now.

HEY (STRANGER) INTERNET!
it's been a really long time.
i decided i'd give this blogging thing a try again, except this time, actually make it less of a 'i have so many feelings' forum and more of a 'wow, the internet can be used as an awesome tool when you use it for more than stalking people on facebook' kind of deal (not that facebook stalking isn't awesome)....
i'm in the process of launching a lot of new creative projects for myself and i'm going to use this as a platform to gather and share a lot of my thoughts and current work with the world wide web... and hopefully some human beings too.

the main idea right now is that i will be posting a lot of my photographs on here, in addition to text, and that i will actually create a weekly or bi-weekly system of updating based on certain criteria or themes i create .... which i will share with you on a later date. i know it is obvious that i am very much in the 'yet to be determined' phase of this idea, but that is also where i currently am in life, and i strongly believe that this is a place where some great creative energy and progress can be made. this is why i feel it is important to work a lot of this out for myself through my photographing and writing in an interactive and public way, so that i can instantly share with others, while also feeling productive through the process of completing each post on here.

alright, so, this is just a brief run down of how i envision this blog, but it really just feels good for me to just start some sort of outlet for myself again, and i really hope that other people enjoy it, and add to it, and critique it, and simply react to it along the way.


finally, since spring is (kind of) here, i'll leave you with these photos i shot of the cherry blossoms in the district, which i had actually hadn't seen since i was really young, even though i've lived in this area pretty much my whole life.
we went around sunset, when there was a slight breeze in the air, and there was something quite extraordinary about the light, the quantity of trees, and the temporary, fleeting beauty of these flowers in full bloom.







it's safe to say that i now understand for the first time why so many tourists come to see these lovely flowers... so i'll have to try to stop cursing at them as i drive behind them/ almost hit them as they dart out in front of my car.

until next time.
-a