Hell-vetica.
Capturing the art of Hand-painted typography. A photo essay by George Thomas.
Hand-Painted Typography CONCEPT NOTE
When walking through the streets of Chennai, it’s hard to miss the bright and bold political graffiti that adorns the walls and buildings. Artists have never been bound by the paper or canvas and have always been looking for different mediums to express ideas. India has a rich tradition of hand-painted typography from matchbox labels to Satyajit Ray’s brilliant movie posters. This tradition still continues in various parts of Chennai like the local markets, fishermen boats, trucks and autos. My aim is to capture the emotion that is associated with this age-old art and how it still stands out in our largely digital world.
Inspiration Everywhere around us we see various traditions dying, giving into the chaos and pace of our technology driven world. These traditions defined sets of people and created diverse cultures across the globe. We lose a part of our identities when a tradition bites the dust. Typography has always been closely connected to cultures, with varied scripts and calligraphy techniques. Hand-painted typography tells a story by itself with a slice of the artist’s emotion instilled in it. Before printing, painted advertisements and store signages were widespread. Now flex boards and neon signs have largely replaced this age-old art. Still we find spells of beautifully hand-painted letters and numbers around us at public spaces, in the form of advertising on walls and even in the form of vandalism around town. India has a rich culture of hand painted posters and matchboxes. I want to show what still exists from before vinyl signs, and before Helvetica.
Review STUDY ON STREET TYPOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECTS
Street Typography is not limited to just graffiti. It consists of all forms of typography from billboards to road signs to shop facades. When you travel from place to place this gives an idea of the mood and aesthetics of that area.
Todd MacFie’s captures of Tamilian street typography.
Richard Frazer’s photo documentation of Truck art from Kerala
India has a wide variety of typographic styles owing to its multitude of languages across the nation. The treatment of glyphs differ with the scripts and the challenges in displaying them are beautifully solved in hand-painted typography.
Summary I would like to capture not only the typography but the life and culture that is connected with it as well. A lot of display fonts that we use today are interpretations of certain hand-painted type. Rather than just reading text, the experience of viewing a hand-painted font is more visually engaging. This is certain to hook the audience into first reading the text, and not seeing it as an array of characters but as an entire work of art. Street typography is not comprehended by capturing the typography by itself but it gains meaning from its environment and the life that thrives there. My objective is to capture this atmosphere in its entirety and portray how typography is a part of the landscape.
Shot description
Angle
Shot
Rigs
Time
Location
1
Temple exterior
Eye
Wide
18-55mm
4-6 pm
Tiruvanmiyur
2
Market shop sign
Low angle
Close
55-250mm
4-6 pm
Tiruvanmiyur
3
Painted ads
Low angle
Wide
55-250mm
4-6 pm
Tiruvanmiyur
4
Milestone
Eye
Close
55-250mm
4-6 pm
Kottivakkam
5
Store sign
Eye
Close
18-55mm
4-6 pm
Parry’s
6
Xerox shop
Eye
Close
18-55mm
4-6 pm
Parry’s
7
Type on pillar
Eye
Close
55-250mm
4-6 pm
Tiruvanmiyur
8
Store sign
Eye
Medium
18-55mm
5-6 am
Kasimedu
9
Apartment gate
Low angle
Ext close
55-250mm
4-6 pm
Kottivakkam
10
Telephone booth
Eye
Medium
18-55mm
4-6 pm
Sowcarpet
11
Temple gate
Low
Medium
18-55mm
4-6 pm
Sowcarpet
12
Ironing cart
Eye
Close
18-55mm
4-6 pm
Sowcarpet
13
Bus depot sign
Eye
Close
55-250mm
7-8 am
Tiruvanmiyur
14
Street corner
Eye
Medium
18-55mm
4-6 pm
Parry’s
15
Ice cream cart
Eye
Close
18-55 mm
4-6 pm
Sowcarpet
Shot No.
Hell-vetica.
Capturing the art of Hand-painted typography. A photo essay by George Thomas.
L.B Road, Thiruvanmiyur
f/5.6 | Shutter: 1/125 | ISO: 800
Omnipresent
Marudeeswarar Temple, Thiruvanmiyur
f/4.5 | Shutter: 1/100 | ISO: 100
The Mundane Milestone
L.B Road, Thiruvanmiyur
f/5.6 | Shutter: 1/125 | ISO: 400
No Borders
Neelankarai, ECR
f/5.6 | Shutter: 1/100 | ISO: 400
The Pillar of Services
Sowcarpet f/5 | Shutter: 1/125 | ISO: 400
Colour Code
Thiruvanmiyur Market
f/4.5 | Shutter: 1/125 | ISO: 100
The Catalogue
Sowcarpet f/5 | Shutter: 1/100 | ISO: 100
The Test of Time
Parry’s Corner
f/5 | Shutter: 1/100 | ISO: 400
Fishy Business
Kasimedu f/4.8 | Shutter: 1/60 | ISO: 2200
Product over Brand
Parry’s Corner f/5 | Shutter: 1/60 | ISO: 400
Skinned
Thiruvanmiyur market
f/4 | Shutter: 1/125 | ISO: 100
Vector to Wall
L.B Road, Thiruvanmiyur
f/5.6 | Shutter: 1/125 | ISO: 100
Protest
f/5.6 | Shutter: 1/125 | ISO: 100
Calm amid Chaos
Parry’s Corner
f/5.6 | Shutter: 1/1000 | ISO: 100
To Hellvetica.
Thiruvanmiyur f/5.6 | Shutter: 1/125 | ISO: 100
References https://richardfrazer.com/blog/hand-painted-indian-typography/ https://ilovetypography.com/2012/04/06/type-camp-india/ http://www.messynessychic.com/2016/03/31/the-lost-art-of-street-typography/
A photo essay by George Thomas.