Kreuzberg: living graffiti
When I visited Berlin last summer, I spent an early morning and, a couple of days later, a late afternoon touring around Kreuzberg. This borough is divided into two major districts, 36 and 61. I didn’t know enough about them to distinguish them – everywhere I went was heavily covered in graffiti. This street art was an integrated part of Kreuzberg and often reflected the lives passing in front of it.
It was an immersive experience to photograph surrounded by this art. And one which was a great challenge to show that integration of the art with the people. That is what drew me back a second time on a visit where I only had five days in Berlin. I’m glad I did, it was a really interesting place to visit.
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Graffiti Photographs
I don’t actively hunt graffiti out but occasionally there is a piece that demands a second look when I see it. Whether because of the color, the shapes, the location or something less tangible, I have to photograph the occasional piece. Here are four pieces where I like the art and the way I captured them in a photograph.
An incongruous drawing in the bedroom of a long abandoned farmhouse near Gull Lake, Saskatchewan.
Railroad cars have no shortage of graffiti on them. This little bird and the weathered paint attracted me more than the larger canvases nearby.
This van’s delivery days are long past but it is doing great brightening up a back alley in an industrial section of Calgary.
Christopher Martin Photography 