4th September (part2) Joe Slovo

This group of photos were taken on a wall on Joe Slovo drive. Some of the walls are in bad condition and the paint is cracked or faded, so I assume that they have been there for quite some time.



Artist: KDJ



Artist: KDJ

I'm not 100% sure of the artists, In time I'll learn to read and recognise the grafitti styles.
Credits to each artist.

4th September 2011

Today was my first Painted Joburg excursion. I was dropping off a friend then decided to take another route home that I knew was going to take me past some areas where I was sure to find some wall art. When you are looking for grafitti, you notice just how much there actually is. So finding my first photos was alot easier than I anticipated. Advice from a family member who is in the photography industry advised that I dont go alone to certain areas of the city, and dont wear any jewelry or flash any kind of money. I was not expecting, on this trip, to feel afraid but I must say that it was a little unnerving to park my car, get out and walk around with a camera. Next time I will be sure to bring someone along.

I'll start with my best find of the day:

I had parked on a one-way street and had to do an around the block trip to get back on the main road, when I spotted this wall of a Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the republic of Greece office.

Artist Unknown.

Quick as a flash, a group of locals started posing against the wall for me to take their photos. I did, but managed to get these two photos with no added subjects. They asked me how much I was charging and how soon can I get the prints to them.

Graffiti Project - The Beginning

ART: “is the product or process of deliberately arranging items (often with symbolic significance) in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression”

GRAFFITI: “is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property. Graffiti is any type of public markings that may appear in the forms of simple written words to elaborate wall paintings”

“In most countries, marking or painting property without the property owner's consent is considered defacement and vandalism, which is a punishable crime. Sometimes graffiti expresses social and political messages and a whole genre of artistic expression is based upon spray paint graffiti styles. To some, it is an art form worthy of display in galleries and exhibitions; to others it is merely vandalism.”

(Definitions and quotes from Wikipedia)

Where would we draw the line between Art and Graffiti, or rather where would these two meet?

I’ve been wanting to start this project for a long time now. Since moving to the city in 2006 and even before then I’ve seen so many painted walls, bridges, sign posts and pavements in the city of Johannesburg, some indeed are acts of vandalism others are forms of street art or advertisements on comissioned walls scattered around the city.   I’ve become fascinated by this and have been wanting to document them for my own personal photo collection, and share for others what I see. A large part of this may very likely be merely photos of illegal public graffiti, thugs or gangs marking their terriroty by tagging and the defacement of this beautiful country. However, graffiti is a temporary art form, and is often cleaned up, removed and painted over. In the cases where this is true, art is lost in memory, but retained in photography and although I am not a professional photographer, I really do hope to capture some of the best.

I was recently inspired by the movie/documentary called Exit through the gift shop. It is highly recommended for anyone interested in this kind of street art and modern pop culture.

The best way to start is with google, of course. But I’ll soon be hitting the streets with my camera in hand and will be posting my findings soon thereafter.