Wednesday 18 January 2012

Parisian Graffiti and Other Scribbles

Graffiti....you either love it or hate it.  But it's been practised for centuries and will continue way into the future I suspect.  It says a lot about our society past and present.

A couple of years ago I visited Pompeii (have a look below) - lots of vibrant graffiti there!    On one of the city walls, I remember seeing a very graphic representation of the physical attributes of one of the citizens of Pompeii (an alpha male I suspect).  Nothing like a little positive marketing of one's physical characteristics and abilities I guess.

Yes, the citizens of Pompeii were very busy communicating with graffiti before Mt Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79 when their entire city was buried in volcanic ash.






There's lots of interesting graffiti around at present too - in Paris and beyond............raw, graphic street art  that says "look at moi, look at moi".   Well, as I said, graffiti says a lot about the society we live in!

(1)  Parisian graffiti - fantastique natureulement?





And it reads, "Give me your hand to enter the snow."
Not graffiti but a beautiful, elegant 'drip' left on the pavement by a local painter.

(2)  Italian graffiti - Woody always looks good to me - whether on Hollywood's silver screen or a concrete wall in Trastevere, Rome.


(3) Czechoslovakian graffiti - raw, textural and very old.





(4) Dutch graffiti - iconic Marilyn


You may also like my post on:
http://parisallons-y.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/difficult-decision.html

2 comments:

  1. Robyn, I really enjoyed looking at your Czechoslovakian graffiti photos. Great colour, texture and history. Thought you might enjoy looking at a series of photos I shot of indigenous graffiti from the Northern Territory...

    http://www.jessemarlow.com/portfolio/oao-one-and-only/

    J

    ReplyDelete
  2. WOW Jesse.......your photos, as usual, are superb!! Such rich mark making that you've captured so beautifully. I'll check out those street photography galleries/books that you told me about. Wow!! I'm going to be busy...but loving every minute of it. Merci beaucoup Jesse.

    ReplyDelete