OK, the last posts were almost graffiti overkill, I have to admit. Today’s more soothing to the eyes, and yet it found me barely one minute away from that decorated skater place where the last images were taken.
Now, what made me take (and show) so many graffiti photographs – and mind you, there are more to come – ? First of all, that amount of graffiti in accessible places is something rare for me: In Munich or in my hometown Bad Reichenhall, such graffiti would be almost immediately overpainted in order to avoid the spread. Lyon seems to me more accepting, especially as I saw many more well made graffiti in the old quarter Croix Rousse, visible in the background of this image, over the river and up the hill. And, many of those pictures have a vibrance and vitality that contrasts very much with a wealthy city with a well-renowned and rich historical background. So, for me, they do not just express protest and juvenile fervor, but also claim space for the young in a very fixated structure.
With such subjects, my photography is quite often recording only, without further artistic merit, yet still it collects aspects of life and in retrospect I try to form a story of it, reflect on what I saw and enable myself to adjust my view of my surroundings. And of course images as Lyon Runner go a bit further, blend subject matter with my specific way of seeing and (hopefully) transcend into a bigger view at, lastly, life.