What an interesting montage! I truly enjoyed seeing this view of Barcelona and seeing it through your eyes. The graffiti does give one pause to wonder about the artists' message and why this medium. Many are obviously very talented, and perhaps the immediacy of the images is part of their art. I was prompted to write this comment when I noticed that even in Spain, many of the artists express themselves in English. Do you think this is intentional or has English permeated the world's culture to such a degree that citizens (are they all citizens?) revert to English over their native language?
Barbara Wanamaker replied on Mon, 06/08/2009 - 07:52am
Madrid is also a great place for contemplation. Just north of the Grand Via, in the neighborhood where my wife and I stayed for part of our honeymoon, we were struck less by the skill of the artist and more about the locality: cartoon icons booming over the facades of high-culture shops like Gucci and D&C. The neighborhood was surreal. This wonderful photo essay brings me back there, thinking more largely now about the possible political statements of a counter-culture using pop icons and high-society storefronts as their canvasses. (And this was the one city we left our camera in the hotel, sadly).
Christopher Ankney replied on Sun, 09/20/2009 - 08:08pm
Theadora, I enjoyed the essay and photos. I took a lot of shots of graffiti while traveling around the world. It's fascinating to see how it changes country to country.
Funny how things come full circle. Maybe you already know this, but the paper paste-ups of the man and the coyote in image 26 were made by Seattle artist NTG.
Joshua Okrent replied on Thu, 09/24/2009 - 12:14am
Hi Theodora,
What an interesting montage! I truly enjoyed seeing this view of Barcelona and seeing it through your eyes. The graffiti does give one pause to wonder about the artists' message and why this medium. Many are obviously very talented, and perhaps the immediacy of the images is part of their art. I was prompted to write this comment when I noticed that even in Spain, many of the artists express themselves in English. Do you think this is intentional or has English permeated the world's culture to such a degree that citizens (are they all citizens?) revert to English over their native language?
Theodora, your photos and insights are the work of someone well beyond your mere 16 years. Amazing!!
This is fantastic - come do Paris!
Madrid is also a great place for contemplation. Just north of the Grand Via, in the neighborhood where my wife and I stayed for part of our honeymoon, we were struck less by the skill of the artist and more about the locality: cartoon icons booming over the facades of high-culture shops like Gucci and D&C. The neighborhood was surreal. This wonderful photo essay brings me back there, thinking more largely now about the possible political statements of a counter-culture using pop icons and high-society storefronts as their canvasses. (And this was the one city we left our camera in the hotel, sadly).
Theadora, I enjoyed the essay and photos. I took a lot of shots of graffiti while traveling around the world. It's fascinating to see how it changes country to country.
Funny how things come full circle. Maybe you already know this, but the paper paste-ups of the man and the coyote in image 26 were made by Seattle artist NTG.