Take To The Streets - 11 Street Art Photographers

Street Art Photography Group Show feat Alex Ellison, Cheff031, Delete08, Doug Sherman, HowAboutNo, Ian Cox, Joe Epstein, Mark Rigney, Myriam JC Preston, NoLionsInEngland, Unusualimage

Curated by Esther F. Castelo

Fun Factory at Top Office Machines, 133-135 Bethnal Green Road, London E2 7DG
25 April – 19 May 2013
Email funfactory at gmail dot com to confirm opening hours

All photos (of photos!): NoLionsInEngland



This may seem like a vigorous puffing of one’s own wind instrument but with 2 out of 3 of Graffoto’s photographer-writers in the show and in support of the fantastic effort by Esther F Castelo to conceive and curate this show, and anyway we post what the hell we like on our own blog, here’s our take on the Fun Factory’s pop up Take To The Streets photography show.


feat Myriam JC Preston, Alex Ellison, Joe Epstein, HowAboutNo, Mark Rigney, Ian Cox


Two contrasting approaches to the artist-at-work shot face off against eachother on opposing brick walls. Cheffo1 is a fellow VNA magazine photo contributor, his photos certainly show a leaning towards strong colour and half of his quartet show a liking for work-in-progress shots of the artists in action.


Cheff031


On the opposite wall, Texan Doug Sherman’s delicious mounted-but-not-framed images are split between massive top-to-bottom building mural and a trio of close up artist-in-action shots which tantalisingly reveal neither the artwork nor the artist, though not many will fail to figure out which Whitehouse botherer is laying down the letters in the middle shot.


Doug Sherman


Doug said this about his selection of photos for this show:

“They mainly focus on two subjects that i really enjoy shooting which is the artist at work as i am very interested in the process of creating the work sometimes even more so than the final piece. The other is the piece in its new environment and how it interacts with everything else and how everything else interacts with it.”

Joe Epstein captures long walls and halls of fame in a signature joiner style. 6 panoramic shots arranged ladder style make Jo’s presentation a hugely effective and eye-catching display of energetic graff.


Joe Epstein


My favourites – and I know this was the case for many – were Myriam JC Preston’s shots from her car. Since I first came across them on Flickr I’ve loved the unique perspective her “can’t be arsed to get out of the car” approach brings to framing these shots. Myriam had this to say about her selection:

“I chose six of my favourite photographs from the last couple of years, not the most popular with other people, simply ones which resonate with me on a deep level. The similarity they all have with one another is that within each one the focus is not on the art but rather on what is going on in the surrounding environment or what is contrasting with the art (which is clear with the 30 years of British Graff image and also the Dan Kitchener piece) and also on the impact and statement these elements make.”


Myriam JC Preston



Delete08 is committed to a harder, grittier form of art photography. Knowing Delete08 well, I know that he cherishes the mission as much as if not more than the photographic end result. Delete frequently finds ways over walls and fences into yards and tunnels and his edgy selection of photographs comes from a kind of location that not many of the Brick Lane audience will have been privy to.


Delete08


Ian Cox is the doyen of urban art photographers with a long pedigree of contributing to the scene and can be considered, I guess, in-house photographer for the Lazarides stable. His signature (now that the novelty of that bloody fish-eye has worn off ;-) ) is the sharp focus and narrow depth-of-field shot of the artist at work. I love the way the shot of Juice 126, taken on Agent Of Change’s seminal Ghost Town Project is out of focus by half way down the artist’s arm and the background is more colour wash than paint stains.


Ian Cox


The stand out quality of Ian’s work over many years has earned him many exciting trips, he is a photographer that graffiti writer’s and artists trust to deliver the photographs AND not betray a confidence. Shooting both legal and illegal artistic endeavours around the World is second nature to Ian but the image that struck me as being the most imaginative and unique was his shot of the Kings Cross Megaro Hotel “Marmite” mural, again by Agents Of Change. Here is Ian’s synopsis of how he came to realise this shot:

“With such a huge production it was really hard to find the right vista without the picture being cluttered with corporate logos or other distractions. Armed with a long lens and ladder we blagged our way through station security and set up on the bridge above the platforms. I'd be lying if I said I was comfortable being perched above the rails on a ladder on a bridge but it was the only way to get the right perspective through the window. “

Seeing the shot – that’s what makes the difference.


Ian Cox


Alex Ellison has possibly the most single minded determination to devote every breath available to photographing street art and graffiti. Its not just the easy accessible Shoreditch/West End stuff he chases, he is genuinely all-city and indeed all-UK in his chase after preferrably illegal graff and art. One aspect Alex has mastered is the reflection and among his three images is this Malarky cracker.


Alex Ellison


Fellow blogmate and companion for many hundreds of photography walks over the best part of a decade HowAboutNo always has a natural leaning towards highly colourful images. His varied quartet shows a Cept (his pics often do!), an unusual angle, a person perambulating through the shot and a lot of texture and colour.


HowAboutNo


As for my own photos, in the words young Master Nolions whispered to Lady NoLions “Dad’s got better photos than these!". Punchy criticism from the mouths of babies but he’s confusing a picture that is more interesting to me with a picture showing great street art. This canal photo is framed to capture just the reflection, the writing isn’t special, the location totally unremarkable, the artwork itself isn’t even in the shot but it’s just the idea of inverting the reality then not giving a clue to the original that got this shot in.


NoLionsInEngland


This small C215 cat was on the side of a wall mounted bin, the idea behind the photo is a simple bit of playing with scale with the oversize cat appearing to stalk the dude with the pink umbrella.


NoLionsInEngland


Mark Rigney stands out as the longest time served of street art photographer’s present. His selection also favours the artist-at-work shot, a roller action shot in the tunnels behind Leake street proving particularly evocative of a mood while an inspired choice of metallic paper for his Canalside photo lends vibrancy to a very colourful scene. My favourite among Mark’s photos is the shot of Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada in action, both for its almost surreal juxtaposition of scales and for focussing on a detail rather than showing us the full work.


Mark Rigney


Three of Unusualimage’s four shots – the Jimmy Cauty and the two Specter pieces - go deep into high-concept street art. The Jimmy Cauty Old Street mirror piece aka Tra toN Si sihT dates from May 08 and remains my all time favourite piece of street art and I think that "mirror" shot is possibly the single shot that merits the most "thinking" about.


Unusualimage


This show had the tragic possibility of bringing together a bunch of indistinguishable photographers snapping generic shots of street art in a manner that had no more intrigue and appeal that a google image result for street art pics. What actually transpires is that each photographer brought a different perspective, a different eye and a wide variety of distinctive takes on how to view street art to the party. Each then framed the photographs to their own preferred style and indeed hung them differently which combined with the variety of wall surfaces in Fun Factory’s pop up space makes this an interesting and varied show. At the time of writing, there is still a week left for the show to run and is well worth making the effort to see.




Over 400 folk milled around the space on the opening night. As a participant, I owe huge thanks to Esther for masterminding AND keeping her patience with her unruly and very tardy not to say sometimes rude posse of photographers, and to Roberto for tons of work in setting up the space. Mark Rigney did a great job on flyer design and general social media manipulation, while Aida pulled some beautiful screen prints of the show poster – hopefully one will magic its way into my possession some time! The opening night went with a swing thanks to crates of Desperadoes beer. We also owe thanks for the space to Kevin and Ed at OriginalContentLondon.com, cheers dude. Shout to Garfield at the Birdcage pub, Columbia road for a great after-show party which saw some serious rug cutting to 3 DJs and pub price alkyhol.

*other photographers are available

beer by Desperados!



MORE beer by Desperados - did I mention how delicious it is?

Hit Shot Walls - April 2013

Some of the new bits and pieces this month. . . 

Special mention must go to Alo, hitting up so many locations this month and last I've officially lost count.

Quite a few new faces to the streets too, but plenty of habitual Hackney hitters returning after a while away.  

Enjoy.

Hit Shot Walls March 2013

All photos: NoLionsInEngland

Not making any promises that this will become a regular feature but....here are some musings on and pics of street art and graffiti which happened to catch our eye around London recently.

Sweet Toof and Insect knocked up some gorgeous paste ups and papered a broad swath of London’s East End. Choosing photogenically distressed spots to get up, Sweet Toof went for a slightly less lurid pink version of his characteristic gums whilst Insect churned out a range of floppy eared mouse characters with colourful highlights, a reprise of a Hendrix zombie and a barcode coffin wake.








OBIT is on a roll and you can find his stickers and paste ups all over London but in the past week he took on the shutters on a well known bric-a-brac den on Brick Lane, his subject matter reflecting the three organs which come to most harm in Graffoto's obsession with the wondrous beauty of street art (and lavish art openings with free beer).


KGS, Allintha, Obey (modified),Obit


What was interesting to see was KGS getting the crew name high and loud in this street art central location, more power to them. In a world gone mural-loco with several organisations competing to pass permission slips into the hand of any visiting artist who is willing to play the mutual promotion painting game, illegal street art has really been marginalised over the past 18 months. Good to see people willing to grow a pair and get up high and illegal along this mural mile. Compare the above shot with the same spot just a few days earlier, noting by comparison KGS’s comedy modification of the Obey at the far end.


Kata, D7606/Gee Street Art, Unknown, Mobstr, Unga, Allintha, Obey


ACE’s London centric paste-ups have been a firm favourite with Graffoto for many years and despite hectic preps for a recent solo show in LA, ACE managed to add many prime specimens of his mashed up beauty to walls around London






Graffoto first came across Italian ALO one cold evening just over 2 years ago as he put up a few modest paste ups on his first outing to hit the streets of London. While his the energy of his vibrantly coloured portrait imagery was evident even on first sighting, he has recently been finding quiet spots to paint and paste in situ on larger scale to beguiling effect. This particular shot captures the chance moments that crop up as a photographer; with my non viewfinder eye open I could see this girl approaching and thought she’d add interest to the shot but I never imagined her lips, teeth and particularly the grey hat would so magically mirror ALO’s portrait, a lucky bonus. With slogans such as “Deceit”, “Loser” and “Frustration” juxtaposed with his female figures, we wonder if the young, male, Italian artist is allowing some biographical detail to influence his imagery.


ALO (modified/dogged by Endless)





We’re not sure if Kate hangs out in the East End but, avoiding the obvious gag with the juxtaposition of the two paste ups here, we like to think that our favourite screen printer Aida is reflecting on the post Olympics legacy with her modified message here.




Dee One has kept up a high output, I particularly liked this mashed up portrait of Cameron with Dee Devils for brains.


Dee One, D7606/Gee Street Art


The telephone boxes in the shot above started appearing in London late last year. Iconic females including Liz Taylor, Princess Diana, Audrey Hepburn, Barbara Windsor, Sam Fox and errr, Rhianna amongst others are trapped within pop art multiple telephone box paste ups (and the occasional tardis) that look lush on the street. The guy has his mojo and is rocking it hard. Collabs with street artists such as Gee Street Art and 616 seem to be his latest twist not to mention an increase in size as can be seen in the earlier shot of the Brick lane bric-a-brac cabin.




D7606/Gee Street Art, St8ment


Mentioning Gee Street Art, he/they have been among the hardest working street artists over the past winter. At the moment he is mostly making his mark with paste-ups though this multilayered stencil with its free hand reflection is just the way street art should be. He has also put on a street art show out in the provinces which opened this week, sadly we couldn’t make it.




616 doesn’t seem happy unless he has at least 1 new idea each week and recently it was a delight to find him putting up small captioned Polaroid collages, you don’t need permission and a 30 by 8 foot shutter to make an impact round here.






Last year the only 3 warm weeks we had outside the Olympic period were reserved for Jo Peel’s Holywell Lane stop motion mural. This year inside the Foundry Car Park she had to endure 3 weeks of finger freezing weather, hats off to anyone prepared to work outdoors high and hold cold cans for that length of time. We look forward to seeing the resulting stop motion this year, assuming camera operators’ shivers didn’t blur the photos.




Yesterday Graffoto had the pleasure of a couple of hours in the company of master snapper Art Of TheState. His un-erring eye sniffed out a couple of C215’s whose location we weren’t aware of, these are a couple of months old. Isn’t the year flying by.




This final flick is a piece found yesterday, no idea how old it is or who the creative genius was but it made us chuckle.




To those hardly souls undeterred by the brass monkey weather of the past few weeks, whose un-curated art has added beauty to London streets, we salute you!


Linkytron:

616

ACE
 Aida
ArtOfTheState flickr
ArtOfTheState website
C215 flickr
D7606 flickr
Jo Peel
Mobstr
Obey
Paul Insect 
Sweet Toof