Posts Tagged ‘Kensington’

Dysturb

Posted: May 9, 2016 in events, graffiti and street art
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Spread around Kensington and Chinatown are 20 large black and white photos taken by a number of freelance photojournalists who are part of a group called #Dysturb.   One of their goals is to present photojournalism in new ways, including as street art, with the aim of engaging people and encouraging discussion of global issues.   The images are part of an exhibit for the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival.

Kensington has had a problem with taggers for a while.  Often street art gets vandalized in that area.   The #Dysturb photo that was at 56 Kensington (under Mona Lisa) has already been torn down and a couple of others have been ripped.

Pictures of some of the images that are part of the exhibit are shown below.  I have included a partial transcription of the words that accompany each picture.

 

Libyan Coasts, August 1, 2015
Photo by Christophe Stramba-Badiali/Haytham

a large black and white photojournalist picture, part of CONTACT photography festival, pasted on a wall - a boat load of Libyan migrants is being rescued from their rubber dinghy.

West African migrants are seen aboard a boat, approximately 20 nautical miles off the Libyan coast, as they are about to be rescued by Medecins Sans Frontieres. The MSF-hired ship, named Argos, was patrolling the waters off Libya when it encountered one rubber dinghy carrying a total of 111 migrants including several children and infants. “

Barpak, Ghorka District, Nepal, May 9, 2015 ”
Photo by Renaud Philippe/Hans Lucas

a large black and white photojournalist picture, part of CONTACT photography festival, pasted on a wall - children playing in the wind created by a helicopter, Nepal, on a wall in an entraceway. A man is busking in front, and there are people walking past on the sidewalk

Children play in a cloud of dust and gravel thrown by an Indian army helicopter landing in Barpak Nepal.  The community is at the epicenter of the devastating earthquake that struck April 25, 2015, taking over 8000 lives.  Of Barpak’s 1400 houses, only 20 remain standing.   The rest of the town is a pile of rubble that blends into the rocky landscape.  An archway that somehow survived the quake greets visitors with a rueful ‘Welcome to Barpak’.”

Shaanxi Province, Henan, China, February 27, 2014
Photo by Sim Chi Yin/Vii

a large black and white photojournalist picture, part of CONTACT photography festival, pasted on a wall - an ill Chinese man is being comforted by his wife. The picture is on a graffiti covered wall and a black car is parked close to it.

Gold miner, He Quangui, battling silicosis, struggles to breathe while cradled in the hands of his wife Mi Shixiu.  After many attempts to stabilize his breathing, in the early hours of the next morning her tried to kill himself to end the suffering.  He contracted the irreversible disease working in illegal gold mines in China’s Henan province.   He is among some six million workers in China who have pneumoconiosis – the country’s most prevalent occupational disease.”

Cizre Turkey, October 30, 2015.
Photo by Emilien Urbano/Myop for Le Monde
NOTE: I took this picture on Friday. Today (Monday) it was gone.

large black and white photo pasted onto a boarded up storefront of European Textiles on Spadina Rd. The photo is part of #Dysturb exhibit at Contact Photography Festival. It shows a hooded man holding an automatic rifle

A militiaman from the PKK Youth wing YDG-H in Cizre Turkey.  The Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H) – the militant youth wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – are battling to defend their neighbourhoods from Turkish security forces.  The YDG-H has been acting as a paramilitary force in Cizre for the past few months and has closed off several Kurdish neighbourhoods with their armed checkpoints and patrols.

Fort McKay, Alberta, Canada, August 12, 2015
Photo by Ian Willms/Boreal Collective

a large black and white photojournalist picture, part of CONTACT photography festival, pasted on a wall - a sick boy is lying on a bed, on a wall in the entranceway to a store, sidewalk and street scene in the background

Dez, 7, plays in his bed.  Dez was born with an underdeveloped heart and has received multiple open heart surgeries.  His family and healthcare professionals in Fort McKay believe that his condition was caused by environmental pollution.   Fort McKay is an indigenous community that is surrounded by oil  sands developments.”

Kunduz City, Afghanistan, November 18, 2015.
Photo by Andrew Quilty/Oculi

a large black and white photojournalist picture, part of CONTACT photography festival, pasted on a wall - a mother (covered in a black burka) and her daughter in grief, at a gravesite. Pasted on an orange wall with an old brown leather sofa in front of it.

Najibah tries to comfort her daughter Zahara, 8, as they weep over the grave of their husband and father, Baynazar.   Baynazar, 43, was wounded by gunfire on his way home fromwork during the Taliban takeover of Kunduz in late 2015.  He was taken to the nearby Doctors Without Borders (MSF) trauma centre.  In the early hours of October 3, during his second operation, a US AC-130 aircraft attacked the hospital for more than half an hour, killing 43 MSF staff, patients and nurses.  Dozens more were wounded.

About #Dysturb

#CONTACT16

north of Nassau

Posted: September 5, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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Nassau Street that is, just south of College and just west of Spadina.  There is an alley that runs north from Nassau directly behind Spadina.  A dead end lane runs perpendicular to it, behind the houses on Nassau Street.  Like most alleys in Toronto, there is street art there.  Some old, some new, and unfortunately some scribbled over.  All in all, this lane is looking a little worn.

Buildings in an alley with lots of graffiti on them.

a wall with a painting of a woman's head on the left (in grey tones), a door with metal bar gate in the middle, and part of a tag like graffiti piece on the right.

large geometric street art piece on a brick wall in an alley

Black and white street art painting on a reddish brick wall, signed Jaroe

Two large poser bunnies on a wall in an alley

buildings in an alley with lots of street art on them

A lovebot and a pair of anser eyes on a wall in an alley. Lots of empty cardboard boxes on the ground by the wall.

A wall with a small window with a metal grille over it, covered in street art, with weeds and goldenrod growing up in front of it

view down an alley late in summer when there are leaves on the trees and lots of weeds growing at the edges of the pavement

An old wood door on an alley building has been painted with a large yellowish green face with big pink lips and brown teeth

graffiti on a garage door

Two black lovebot robot stickers on a yellow protective sleeve around a cable that is helping to hold up a pole.

In an alley, the back of a house is being renovated, all the windows are boarded up and some of the exterior brick has been removed. There is a metal gate across the back of the property. The garage to the left is covered with graffiti.

Newer garage in an alley with a crooked metal wire gate beside it. The garage has graffiti on the side wall and on both of its garage doors.

looking towards the end of an alley that has a large wheatpaste 3D lovebot high up on it. Beside lovebot is another wheatpaste

Wheatpaste high up on a wall, a large face like thing. The words 'dying inside' are part of the picture

below: Only the eye remains from a previous painting

Just an eye from a previous street art painting hasn't been covered by a white tag

below:  Two photos from the south side of Nassau street

Two women pushing a stroller walk past some street art on Nassau St. in Toronto, a large orange piece ta

The front and side of a garage are covered with street art. The front is not very very visible in this picture but the side is. A man from the waist up with his finger pointing upwards is beside a picture of city buidings and a poser bunny.

pedestrian Sunday, Kensington

Posted: September 3, 2015 in events, public art
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On the last Sunday of the month from May through October, the streets of the Kensingon Market area are closed to vehicular traffic from noon to 7 p.m.  This year, the first two Pedestrian Sundays were cold and wet.   For July and August the last Sundays of both months were hot and sunny.  The following photos were taken on those two days.   Entertainment… music… art…  people watching…. restaurants… shops – the colours of Kensington.

A man with a bushy beard and pointy brown hat is sitting at a table selling things like necklaces and tie dyed shirts

A man is juggling three flaming torches while a crowd looks on, outdoor event.

A woman is smiling as she sits on the steps of a store. Racks of colourful clothing are on display, and for sale, on either side of her

Two women in orange and yellow safety vests. One is sitting on a waist high barrier to keep cars off the street while the other woman is standing and leaning against it.

A man is wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Marilyn Munroe with sunglasses on it. He is trying to sell T-shirts and other works of art outside on the sidewalk. Beside him is a street art painting of a man's face, with his finger in front of his lips.

A man plays scrabble outdoors on the street while wearing roller blades
One man is sitting on a patio surrounded by a few empty tables and chairs. Right behind him is a man sitting at a table inside. The window is open so the man inside is visible

A young man with a Captain America shield, poses in the street

A woman with long grey hair, dark sunglasses and and black and white shirt is in front of a store window. On the window are the words Celebrating 50

A woman selling hats is holding a straw hat with a black band. A male customer is reaching for a dark blue hat.

a street musician stands beside his empty banjo case. In front of the case is a note that says " I need money to buy gas for my pickup to go to the vet to pick up my injured dog who was kicked by my wife as whe walked out the door to run off with my best friend"

 

A rack of clothing on display outside. The sign at the end of the rack says $5 rack. It is made of a collage of pictures of women and clothes.
A man is painting a circular maze on a street

A woman is standing behind a table covered with things that she is selling, outdoors. A sign beside the table says MIB Rolling Stoned Stoner Yard Sale

Three musicians are playing on a rooftop, two guitar players and a drummer. They are on top of the Fairland grocery store in Kensington

three women at an outdoor event. One is wearing sunglasses and a silver necklace. She is holding a cold drink in her hands. The other two women are older and are wearing hats.

female drummer from Amai Kuda and Yjosephine playing at Kensington Pedestrian Sunday

A woman in white is using red fabric ropes to perform acrobatic moves above a crowd of people at an outdoor event.

At an outdoor art exhibit, two kids are behind a display of three paintings of women and butterflies. Only the legs of one child are visible while the legs and side of the body of the other child is visible.

A woman is wearing a hat and sunglasses. She is beside a rack of many straw hats with different coloured bands.

Chalkboard sign outside a restaurant that says Fries b 4 guys. Two people are inside the restaurant, sitting at a table and eating
A woman is tying a black string bikini onto a mannequin
A man is standing in front of a green door that is covered with stickers, graffiti and bits of old posters

Parts of three paintings of children hanging outside on display

A woman with long bright pink hair sits beside a table of art wortks for sale. Beside her is white pedestal with a brightly coloured abstract sculpture on it

A woman is typing on an old typewriter at an outdoor event, Pedestrian SUnday at Kensington Market. She is the Spontaneous PRose Shop. Pay her and she'll compose haiku, poetry or stories for you.

A picture of a woman resting on her folded arms is on a brownish coloured guitar. A man's hand is in the picture as he plays the guitar

An assortment of things for sale on a table including a basket of stuffed animals, some shirts on hangers and a childs red Chinese jacket.

will write poetry or prose for 25 cents

sunglasses and their reflections of Kensington

a cityscape, two bunnies and a chicken

Posted: August 11, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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Murals and street art seen in a nameless alley in Kensington Market area,
near Kensington Ave and St Andrew Street.
It’s the alley that Mona Lisa watches over the entrance to.

a mural on a wall in an alley, a city scene (no people) in grey tones. A man is sitting on the stairs beside the mural and a green car is parked there too

wide angle shot of a mural on a wall in an alley, city buildings in grey tones covers the lower floor of a two storey building.
close up of a portion of the grey cityscape mural

a wall in a lane, a large red chicken head painting is on the right and it seems to be looking down the lane. A woman is standing in the lane

street art painting of a large brown chicken with a red face. The signature on the painting says Jonny Cakes
a yellow poser bunny on a wall in an alley beside a door that is covered with tags including oreks

looking down the alley, wide angle shot, poser bunny mural on the right side, red tag graffiti on the left. At the end of the alley a man stands with his dog, a woman with a white umbrella is passing by

a poser bunny street art painting at the corner of a building is in the foreground, people on Kensington Ave are in the background

surrounded by the colours of Kensington

Posted: April 19, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations, people
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On a warm sunny Saturday in April.
People out and about in Kensington enjoying the day.

Two women are posing in front of a mural in a Kensington lane while a man takes a picture and another man watches.

In a dead end Kensington lane with a car parked at the end of the lane. There is street art on both sides of the alley. One man is leaning against the wall on one side, taking a photo of a man who is leaning against the other wall.

Reflections of people walking on the sidewalk, reflected in the side windows of a red vehicle.

A couple is posing for engagement photos. She is sitting on the hood of a red and white Mini Cooper. He is leaning against the front of the car. The car has big eyelashes over the front headlights. The car is parked on a street in Kensington.

A couple is sitting on the sidealk outside a row of boarded up houses. The houses are brick and are painted in bright yellow, orange and red.

A couple is sitting by a window inside a restaurant. The exterior wall of the building is covered in a mural of brightly coloured little monsters. A woman is standing outside by the window as she checks her phone.

it used to be Kromer Radio

Posted: November 27, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
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 In February 2014, plans to build a large Walmart store on the site of Kromer Radio (420 Bathurst St., just south of College) were shelved.   Kromer Radio was an electronics store and they occupied the building between 1974 and June 2012.

The alley behind the building has been a graffiti site for a number of years.

looking north up an alley. On the right side is a large 3 storey building that has graffiti along the lower part of it. On the left are garages with graffiti on them.

There is graffiti on the building

words written in white paint - "Don't make this building a Walmart"

including this anti-Walmart statement.

 

graffiti on a wall

graffiti on a wall - a chaos of tags and colours on a brick wall

graffiti on a wall - a man with a red face and hat, painted under a metal staircase.

graffiti on a wall - painting of a 'boom box'' or ghetto blaster'

There is graffiti on the garages on the other side of the alley as well.

graffiti on a garage door - a blue tag plus some purple creatures with faces and little skinny black legs. There are also words painted on the garage that say no Walmart

Again, there is anti-Walmart graffiti including this one that says “Need no Walmart”.

graffiti face, white on black, on one half of a garage door. The number 251 is painted in oranges and yellows as well.

 

another Kensington alley

Posted: September 4, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Back in May I posted some photos from a small dead end alley in Kensington. 

This past weekend I took some pictures in a different Kensington alley.

Take a look 🙂

Colourful graffiti in a Kensington lane. Close up of a pair of grey eyes. Bottom part of face is obscured, including her cheeks.

Eyes hold a fascination for me.

. Colourful graffiti in a Kensington lane showing a person with a large head, from the ribs up. Hands are crossed in front of him. Multicoloured geometric shapes are on either side of his head.

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Colourful graffiti in a Kensington lane
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The top part of a woman with long black hair and wearing a white and blue dress is standing amongst many tree trunks.... Colourful graffiti in a Kensington lane. There is a broom, a mop, and two large buckets on the sidewalk in front of her.

It looks like she is in the midst of cleaning. Mop, broom and buckets handy.

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Colourful graffiti in a Kensington lane

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Colourful graffiti in a Kensington lane stencils of heads, one dark blue and one purple.

twins, similar but not identical

.Colourful graffiti in a Kensington lane, an oldered bearded man with yellow hat (or turban?) is holding up his hand to show the eye that is on his palm.

summer in the city

Posted: July 7, 2014 in general Toronto, people
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Summer in the city – although the summer feels like it’s only just begun!

A cyclist and his bike are sitting at the edge of Lake Ontario, behind the chain fence. It is evening and the sky is strating to turn pink

Early evening rest at the waterfront

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Two food trucks are parked on the street. People are buying food, or sitting on the conrete bench (low wall) that runs parallel to the sidewalk

Ice cream, slushies, hot dogs, chips, poutine….  food trucks on Queen Street in front of City Hall.

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Two people are standing behind a table that is covered with a red and white checkered table cloth. The menu is written on a chalk board in front of them. The last item on the menu is love, and it's cost is free.

Uncle Smoke gives away free love! Pulled pork with beans, corn bread and veg will cost you $10 though!  Pedestrian Sunday, Kensington Market.

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A man is sitting beside a stroller in the foreground. Behind him is a pool of water and then a large glass building. On the wall of the building are black and white images of some famous people including Andy Warhol, JFK, and Albert Einstein

Under the watchful eye of a few famous people – Ryerson Image Centre building.

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Some people are walking towards the camera as the cross a street including a couple who are holding hands. He is wearing an orange Tshirt that says Cool story babe, Now Make me a Sandwich.

“Cool Story Babe, Now make me a sandwich.” Any replies ladies?

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A girl is standing very close to one of the tanks at the aquarium, she has her hands open and on the glass.

hands on at the aquarium

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Dundas Square with many people sitting on chairs, under red umbrellas, watching a band play on stage

‘Sweet Alibi’ plays at Dundas Square

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A large group of people, inlcuding many kids, are walking towards Rogers Stadium for a Blue Jays baseball game. Most of them are wearing blue Blue Jays shirts.

game day, Jays fans

******

Pedestrian Sunday

Posted: May 26, 2014 in events, people
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The first Pedestrian Sunday of 2014, Kensington Market, 25th May.

What follows is a collection of sights from that afternoon.

 

A group of young people are walking down the street, away from the camera. Some are walking their bikes and some of the men are topless.

It was a warm day, the warmest day of the year so far. Time to shed the remains of winter and enjoy the sun and the city.

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art and music…..

A young woman is sitting on the sidewalk. She is creating a picture of one of the characters from the TV show Futurama.

‘chalk chick’ – see more of her work at chalkchick.com

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A man sitting on a stool on the sidewalk, playing a musical instrument

I am not sure what his name is or what kind of instrument he plays.  If anyone knows, please give me a shout!

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Two men on the sidewalk outside Sancis store. One man is standing and the other is sitting.

guitar players

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food and drink…..

Three women are lined up waiting to be served at a street vendor who is selling food.

one of the many street vendors selling food and drink – BBQ chicken, burgers, fries, sandwiches and coconut sorbet included

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The front of Wandas Pie in the Sky restaurant. People are sitting at tables and chairs set up outside the restaurant.

enjoying Wanda’s patio

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A number of people are having lunch on a patio.

lunch on the patio!

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A group of young people are sitting onthe curb eating food out of stryofoam containers

street food

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people watching ……

Some people sitting on steps, three women standing in front of a large graffiti face that is wearing large star shaped sun glasses.

In front of big red starry sunglasses.

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People are walking towards the camera, down the street, but between them and the camera is a giant scrabble game that is now finished

giant scrabble!

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A couple with a small dog on a leash are standing by one of the barricades used to keep cars off the street

People with animals ….

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A woman has a large fake red nose and large white frames sunglasses. She is carrying a green umbrella with a froggie face on it

keeping cool under the froggie

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A woman is sitting at a table, under a patio umbrella. Behind her is a large graffiti piece of a young woman's face

two women, one larger than life

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A woman is looking at her phone as she waits behind a table where she is selling denim shorts (on the sidewalk). In the background a man is buying something at another vendor's table.

‘This Way’ to browsing, buying and selling.

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A pile of large wood blocks are in the middle of the street and a family is building small towers with them - a small girl and boy and their parents.

playing with blocks

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Two women, each with an umbrella open above their heads are standing in the street.

Some people bared their skin to bask in the sun while others wanted more protection

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a man is getting his hair cut outside

under the blade

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….. and the sights of Kensington

 

Detail of messages attached to a telephone pole. They are written on strips of yellow and blue heavy paper. In the background is a painting of a large eye, part of the sign above the door of Orbital Arts on Augusta Ave.

A watchful eye from Orbital Arts looks over Augusta Ave.

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At an intersection, lots of people are walking on the street. Across the intersection is a three story burgundy colored brick building with a shop, and awning, on the ground floor. There are murals of faces on the upper level of the outside wall along with the words 'Welcome to Kensington, Romeos'

crowded streets mid-afternoon outside Romeo’s

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a man stands in the doorway of a shop that has towels in the window and a lot of things for sale on a table outside the shop

Captain America and the Hulk lurk outside a store.

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street scene of the intersection of Kensington and Dundas West. There are people walking on the sidewalk past a boarded up shop.

the corner of Kensington and Dundas West

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A man is sitting on a fence reading a book. There are books on the ground in front of him that are for sale. There are also some shirts on hangers that are for sale.

a quiet corner to read on

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little people stuck to the wall, sticker street art on Kensington

little people stuck to the wall, sticker street art on Kensington

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a little alley

Posted: May 22, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
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A little dead end alley in Kensington and the graffiti I found there.

Looking through a chain link fence towards a short laneway. There is graffiti on the walls of the buildings that back onto the alley

A chain link fence at the end of the alley.

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Street art piece of a semi clad woman and a male nude, reaching for each other. They are larger than life, and higher up on a wall.

I love the way that the faces are incomplete compared to rest of the anatomy.

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A graffiti piece of a black hooded figure. Someone has tagged over part of it in large white letters. The next person has put an orange line through the white tags and then added the words Fuck You learn some respect

The seemingly endless battle between graffiti artists and those who wantonly tag over their work.

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A collection of small tiles that have been painted over by a larger piece of street art

squares pieced together

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Multicoloured graffiti that covers a door as well as the wall.

hidden doorway

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black outline picture of a tea cup and saucer, with steam rising from it, on top of green and purple graffiti

steaming

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Doorway covered with stickers and scribbles

chaos with stickers and scribbles

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Graffiti of a pinkish face with bared teeth. CHainlink fence on the left of the photo.

grimacing skull by the fence

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