001 010608 - Beyond Graffiti
I don’t use my camera nearly enough. I spent loads on it last year, then just didn’t use it, then I was alerted to a deviantart user named yellowpumpkin, who’s taken a photo every day for the last year, and some of them are totally amazing. I haven’t had chance to go through all of them, but he really inspired me to get out with my camera. This afternoon, not content with settling for bunny/girlfriend-related photos on the first day, I went for a wander up the Avenue in Southampton. Every day I drive down there, I see a little corner of amazing-looking graffiti that I always mean to check out, so today seemed like the perfect opportunity!
When I got down there, it was a graffiti-spotter’s paradise. An underpass just covered from end to end in amazing colour, interspersed with tags and some really impressive illustration. I wandered from end to end looking for my favourite view from there and it came down to a portrait or landscape aspect of the same subject. The lighting was low and accentuated by the verging-on-pointless streetlights, it just worked so well.
At the other end, there is a small URL, beyondgraffiti.com sprayed near the top of one of the walls - it turns out that this whole thing was an urban pride project and an effort to clean up a popular illegal graffiti hotspot. Unfortunately, it seems that most of the original artwork has been covered, but in such an impressive way that it’s not too detrimental.
Rob Gilbert:
Hey there, nice first shot. It’s great how you’ve got everything exposed properly, and the geometry works too.
Jasper Tandy:
Hey, thanks very much! I was really pleased with it, too. I’m really hopeful that I’ll be able to keep this up for the whole year, I’ve enjoyed the last couple of days a lot.
Corbin:
That’s a great shot that captures the mood of the site, especially with the lights. I’ve spent many hours there trying to get good shots, not easy. A keen photographer myself I am also the founder of Beyond Graffiti. So it’s really interesting to read other people’s thoughts regarding the site.
Nice one!
Jasper Tandy:
That’s awesome, thanks for your comment. I obviously took a look at your site before writing my post and it seems that you haven’t done anything for a while with Beyond Graffiti - if you do anything in future, I’d love to come and take photos. I’m a huge fan of graffiti art and I love to find excellent examples outside galleries!
Corbin:
I’ve put Beyond Graffiti on the shelf while I’m working on a couple of new projects. As usual it’s taking a lot of time and money to do. I’ve bookmarked your site, I’m really interested to see more of your photos. I bought a D80 last year and like you I need to use it a lot more.