Illegal Art in Hollywood

JimmyHickey · July 27, 2010

Went out a few nights ago with a few pretty well known urban artists from around LA. We left at 2 A.M. and when we were finally heading home, the early morning commuters were already on the streets drinking their coffee. We hit up Melrose Ave in Hollywood, one of the streets known for it's urban art, especially with Obey. I photographed them wheat pasting and tagging certain signs and buildings...I even climbed to the top of a building to get one of these shots...one of my cameras took a pretty nasty fall off of a railing while climbing but luckily it survived. It's amazing how much etiquette goes in to illegal art. As far as the photography only two rules I must follow: No complete faces, no identity
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4

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7

8 And the Artists

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Thanks for looking, stay tuned for a full project on illegal art!

Te Amo · July 27, 2010

i spy shepard fairey

Agnieszka · July 27, 2010

Interesting project! Very cool

Jeffro · July 27, 2010

Breaking the law in the name of art, always a plus.

JHarris1984 · July 27, 2010

Love #4 with the artist and the police car in the background.

Angelo · July 27, 2010

Wow! excellent, cool, phat, bad, whatever - it is it

agreed - #4 is very cool

JimmyHickey · July 27, 2010

Thanks for the comments guys!

Patti · July 27, 2010

I really enjoyed this series. I love the light and tunnel effect in #7. Is the art in #6 illegal or done commercially? It's incredible.

Flyinggina · July 27, 2010

What a neat way to spend a night!!

Thank you so much for sharing these.

Virginia

rainbow · July 27, 2010

Really enjoyable series. I like the feeling of having to hurry on the desolate locations that you capture in the shots.

Looks like a great time to be able to accompany them and take the photos. Interesting that there is a whole subculture built around this.

CAPTURED2H · July 28, 2010

wow they do not paint their own places they destroy others and you folks think this is great and I hope you show this to your children so they can grow up and follow in the shoes of this scum .Dgrin is wrong really wrong to leave this post up but illegal is the was the country is headed so just wow --Dfrown

Nikonic1 · July 28, 2010

6 & 9 are tight. Nice set.

Richard · July 28, 2010

Nice set. You captured the furtive feeling well.

JimmyHickey · July 28, 2010

CAPTURED2H wrote: »

wow they do not paint their own places they destroy others and you folks think this is great and I hope you show this to your children so they can grow up and follow in the shoes of this scum .Dgrin is wrong really wrong to leave this post up but illegal is the was the country is headed so just wow --Dfrown

It's wheat paste and paper, both water soluble and can be literally pulled off with your hands. They aren't destroying anything, they are bringing art into people lives and reawakening a sense of wonder about one’s environment.

Te Amo · July 28, 2010

promoguy · July 28, 2010

Gotta agee Tiger....and it's my taxes that go to clean the mess they make since I pay property tas. Did they pick up the paper left laying around the street.

Brewster · July 29, 2010

Great Images!
#4 and #7 do it for me

mercphoto · July 29, 2010

promoguy wrote: »

Gotta agee Tiger....and it's my taxes that go to clean the mess they make since I pay property tas. Did they pick up the paper left laying around the street.

I'll third that. I don't care how talented they are or how good their final results are, its an illegal act that shows little respect for other people's property.

bmoreshooter · July 29, 2010

If it's so harmless then why are they hiding their faces? Wheat paste, hmm, that sure looks like he's spray painting someone elses property to me. Photo #2 is an exellent example of how easily that crap comes off. 4 and 9 - I'm sure their going to clean up the trash they threw all over the ground in their feeble attemp to make room for their lovely "artwork". I don't know about the rest of you but I find the poster of the cop sitting on the toilet in really poor taste. If you really don't mind what they are doing here why not volenteer your house or property so that their "art" can be practiced legally. As for the photos, I don't find them to be any real works of art either, just snapshots of someone breaking the law.

Richard · July 29, 2010

Just a reminder that we are not here to discuss the legality or ethics of graffiti painters. Illegal acts are perfectly appropriate subjects of photojournalism. Taking and publishing pictures does not imply approval either by the photographer or the publisher. It's just reporting on what's out there.

bmoreshooter · July 29, 2010

The feeling evoked by a photograph is just as important as the picture itself. That's a large part of why we do it. This is a discussion forum and not just a place to show off your pretty pictures. Or at least that's what I thought, I could be wrong.

promoguy · July 29, 2010

"Just a reminder that we are not here to discuss the legality or ethics of graffiti painters. Illegal acts are perfectly appropriate subjects of photojournalism. Taking and publishing pictures does not imply approval either by the photographer or the publisher. It's just reporting on what's out there."

Didn't know that trespassing is legal in Spain. Looks like both the guy who took the pictures and the guy splattering stuff on the side of a private building are doing both that and making work for building owner in order to clean it up. And yeah, I think I'll comment when I see a couple of young guys with masks on their faces cuz they don't have the guts to show their faces, spread crap around MY city. Let them do it in Madrid.

Richard · July 29, 2010

You don't seem to have gotten the message. I will delete any further posts that do not address photography. There are many, many other forums on the Internet where you can discuss social issues all you want.

michswiss · July 29, 2010

promoguy wrote: »

"Just a reminder that we are not here to discuss the legality or ethics of graffiti painters. Illegal acts are perfectly appropriate subjects of photojournalism. Taking and publishing pictures does not imply approval either by the photographer or the publisher. It's just reporting on what's out there."

Didn't know that trespassing is legal in Spain. Looks like both the guy who took the pictures and the guy splattering stuff on the side of a private building are doing both that and making work for building owner in order to clean it up. And yeah, I think I'll comment when I see a couple of young guys with masks on their faces cuz they don't have the guts to show their faces, spread crap around MY city. Let them do it in Madrid.

Did you read what you quoted? Take a deep breath and just look at the images. If you don't like them, so be it. You can always comment about how to improve the photography. If you don't like the subject matter, go out and address it in your community. The police obviously didn't notice while it was happening just behind them. In either instance the photographer did a service.

JimmyHickey · July 29, 2010

bmoreshooter wrote: »

If it's so harmless then why are they hiding their faces? Wheat paste, hmm, that sure looks like he's spray painting someone elses property to me. Photo #2 is an exellent example of how easily that crap comes off. 4 and 9 - I'm sure their going to clean up the trash they threw all over the ground in their feeble attemp to make room for their lovely "artwork". I don't know about the rest of you but I find the poster of the cop sitting on the toilet in really poor taste. If you really don't mind what they are doing here why not volenteer your house or property so that their "art" can be practiced legally. As for the photos, I don't find them to be any real works of art either, just snapshots of someone breaking the law.

It may be harmless, but it is still illegal. They are aware of the legal danger and do it anyways.

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Thanks for the comments everyone, happy to see this set of images caused such debate. This was an incredibly difficult thing to shoot considering the limitations and obstacles...like climbing a 3 story building and hiding from the cops...not to mention the safety or the legal trouble I could have got in for accompanying them. Even though its legal to photograph an illegal activity, I've heard some pretty bad things happen to photographers following urban artists around. But in my opinion it was all worth the risk, I got some photos that in my opinion capture the feel of what its like out there and show the world whats going on during the streets while the city sleeps.

Bmore if you think these are snapshots what would you suggest to make them not appear as snapshots? Give me some advice. Just because you don't like the subject matter, or what they do doesn't justify calling a set of images "snapshots" without being able to back that up. I guarantee what I went out and shot that night is more difficult and intense then the average photographer will ever go through in their lifetime. Take that into consideration before you put down an entire set of images.
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Richard · July 29, 2010

I would have liked to have seen more of the art in the pics. #5 has that, but the person is really small--#1 is better balanced in that regard.

Angelo · July 29, 2010

Richard wrote: »

I would have liked to have seen more of the art in the pics...

I'd like to understand the motivation these young guys have. Political? Social justice? Or like most gang taggers, just ego?

.

bfjr · July 29, 2010

Angelo wrote: »

I'd like to understand the motivation these young guys have. Political? Social justice? Or like most gang taggers, just ego?

.

ancient motivation in the DNA all species like to mark their territory

No really

the one with cop car is the one I like, just adds a little thrill :wow

CAPTURED2H · July 30, 2010

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p.1 #8 · Illegal Art in Hollywood

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]One man's vandal helps open the worlds eyes and reawaken a sense of wonder about one’s environment.
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Are you for real ? Your photos due show with the grit and dirt oh and filth the subject matter very well but I think you boys should do a day shoot for better EXPOSER that would give us better detail

JimmyHickey · July 30, 2010

Angelo wrote: »

I'd like to understand the motivation these young guys have. Political? Social justice? Or like most gang taggers, just ego?

.

Not sure, I'll ask them and get back to you. Personally I think it's because it exposes the world to things they have created and for that brief second see the world as the artist sees it. Check out www.obeygiant.com for some pretty interesting information in that department.

CAPTURED2H wrote: »

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]p.1 #8 · Illegal Art in Hollywood

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]One man's vandal helps open the worlds eyes and reawaken a sense of wonder about one’s environment.
[/FONT]

Are you for real ? Your photos due show with the grit and dirt oh and filth the subject matter very well but I think you boys should do a day shoot for better EXPOSER that would give us better detail

During the day won't work because there are too many people. Alternativily I do have a set of images where I followed actual taggers, not wheat pasters around, I think I'll post that up now:)
Here are a few of their actual work-

mercphoto · July 30, 2010

Angelo wrote: »

some interesting viewing on the subject of street art:

Now, now, now..... "Just a reminder that we are not here to discuss the legality or ethics of graffiti painters", "You don't seem to have gotten the message. I will delete any further posts that do not address photography."

By the way, thanks to all who PM'd me thanking me for standing up to the view that this is illegal!

I'm out of this thread now.

Illegal Art in Hollywood

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