I find graffiti to be beautiful. Yes, it’s true it’s technically vandalism but the results of many people spraying in one place over and over creates a beautiful layered abstract painting. To understand one’s motivation to tag a surface, I guess we could actually go all the back to the cave paintings. Humans have an inherent desire to leave their mark, or express themselves with mark making. Is graffiti a way of communicating? Maybe it’s the bright colors that I enjoy which are usually set in contrast with old, rusty dirty surfaces in urban environments. It can also be found in natural environments and has a primitive feel to it. Graffiti has historically inspired contemporary artists and designers and continues to do so.
Here’s some graffiti that has caught my eye. When I choose where to crop it then I have a hand in the end product which in this case is my photograph.
