Firstly, the image above was taken in neither Bushwick or Ridgewood. It's actually in East New York alongside the Long Island Railroad a few feet from the East New York station where L.I.RR. and the L train meet.
The photo is from a group I saved to create a digital book of captures I made on a #GraffitiCrawl of sorts. Idea was to share a few images of things most of my patrons (on Patreon) or anyone else really would never see. On foot I ventured into a number of places that only the artists who scrawled their expression visited most likely.
Tonight's brisk ride reminded me as I passed a few places I shot near. Wee hour visiting is definitely a different experience.
Around the time I took these photos I was in study mode. I watched numerous vids and docs about graffiti and street art, from New York to Philly to L.A. The cool thing was stumbling upon some pieces from artists I saw or were mentioned in those videos.
When you treat this form of art like Calculus and break it down, the decoded portions read like a familiar story of humanity. Deep study gave me perspective I didn't have and my daily walks became a little bit more exciting. Suddenly every tag, throw up, burner, piece or mural came alive. I was aware of the language in a way I wasn't before.
Hieroglyphs everywhere. Imagine that.
C.