Graffiti on Flickr

Once I found a couple different places with graffiti, I had a stash of pictures on my digital camera. It started to become less interesting to find spots and to take flicks. I mean, I had nobody to share my hobby with. So I thought, what the hell am I going to do with all these pictures? There has to be a photo website to put my pictures of graffiti on. After searching numerous websites, I found Flickr. I uploaded my photos and thought now what? Everyone else's pictures are totally different stuff, not of graffiti. (When that happen I said forget it. Figured it was going to be one of those hobbies you have for a few weeks or so, then it just fades away) After having a Flickr account for about a week. Someone messaged me and told me I had found some old pictures of graffiti and that he was impressed I found those spots. Curious who he was, I went to his account and found he was a lover of graffiti as well.

I spent hours upon hours printing off all my photos of graffiti I captured. Man, I wasted so much ink and paper. I had over 300 pictures and made sure all of them were printed and were nicely put in a folder. After finding Flickr, I realized all the time I spent was a total waste!!

I noticed many other people searched for graffiti in the area. Seeing their photos of spots I've never seen before made me more thirsty to find different areas. It grew to be my top hobby quickly. People were messaging me left and right, asking me about where I found a graffiti piece at and telling me history about a writer or a crew. It didn't take long for me to be able to read styles of graffiti and know who spray painted the piece. Soon after I had the rush to find graffiti before other people on Flickr. Being the first one to find a nice piece of a popular writer means you got a lot of views, comments, and just the glory of knowing you found the graffiti before someone else.

Finding a new spot shows in ways your knowledge for graffiti. Out of all the people on Flickr that capture pictures of graffiti in the Twin Cities area, you get a sense of knowing who has the best knowledge of graffiti, and definitely who knows where to look for graffiti.


Graffiti Crews & Gang Graffiti:

A person who knows their graffiti, knows that some crews rock the area and are better graffiti artist. What makes you a good graffiti artist is you have good styles and know how to connect letters together, or just know how to make them look nice, you can put up a nice piece in dangerous areas and your work of art looks good, and you have a good sense of color schemes.

Pedro UC

Stalk AKB

 Crews kind of have rankings. Like you have to be at a level of talent to be on certain crew, have so many pieces put on a highway etc. etc. Every crew has different requirements of how to get into a crew, but its way different then street gangs. They don't involve guns or violence. More like if you write over someone else's graffiti piece, you have a chance of your piece getting scribbled on, or dicked. Anyways, many people think that graffiti is related to gang violence. Yes, some is such as..

Surenos 13

...But most is not. The way to distinguish the difference is gang graffiti is normally symbols, and the font is not that fancy. Graffiti artist pieces are colorful and their tags normally look pretty nice. They look something like this...

Spie & Shock UC

Any who, that is the difference. Find me on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/people/bowlinball4/



The Introduction to Graffiti

Graffiti. I got into graffiti when I was biking over south one afternoon, a place I wasn't familiar with. While exploring the area for the first time, I went under a bridge and seen pillars splashed with all types of colors. From that day on, in November of 2007, graffiti became one of the most interesting aspects of my life. It's an amazing hobby to have. I found joy, in being the first one to take a picture of a "new" or "old" graffiti. The abstract colors and twisted words, is what attracted me most. I found some old school graffiti from artists that have changed their tags throughout the years.  It is interesting seeing how artists improve their styles as well as their letters. Their talent and creativeness was something that I could connect with.

Drive 2003

Spie 2003



I might not be the most adventurous out of many people in the Twin Cities area who find spots to flick graffiti, but I have had my moments.
To add on, my curiosity brought some dissadvantages. I've got chased by several homeless people. I've also been chased by the cops. I've been inside one of many abandon buildings in the area that are dangerous and hard to find. Finding the best places to take pictures can be a struggle. 

I love graffiti and find that others should notice it as well!!!

See, I never had the intentions to ever do a blog, but my girlfriend thought it would be awesome to talk about graffiti and other interests on here. (I don't know why she would think of something like this, but actually it's a pretty good idea!)

I recently started getting back into graffiti after taking the summer of 2010 off. For most people, they probably don't understand how good it feels to find a area full of graffiti, whether it's in an area in public, or some place a little more hidden, it's awesome. Even though graffiti has got me introuble, it still doesn't slow me down. I've been posting my pictures on flickr.com since 2007 as well. If you have one, look me up! My user name is AboveTheNorm...

So recently, I found a spot over in St. Anthony, full of graffiti from 2002,2003 & 2004. If you don't know about graffiti, at least in the Twin Cities, when the graffiti is over 6 years old, it's kind of considered old school, or just more of a gem to find. Here's a couple photos from that spot...

4give 2002

Ibet 2003

Gain 2002

Upon this spot being the only new place I've found since my recent return to graffiti, I have a few spots I've learned about that I haven't visted yet. I'm very excited to go out and find new pieces, adding on to my other 2000 plus pics of graffiti. So stay tune, I'll write about other experiences, my new adventures, and such.

I'm outty,

-AboveTheNorm

Also, look me up on flickr!!

http://www.flickr.com/people/bowlinball4/

If you have an account let me know! I'm not into just graffiti, I also love photography. So hook me up!!