Walls Br a ndon Par ker
“How come a man’s what you say? I’m a grafiti writer. I’m an artist. I don’t just throw up little tags all over the place. I make them trains beautiful.”
Ramón
Graffiti Artist
I was introduced to street art by Ramón, the graf writer in the film Beat Street. While consuming strawberry Quik and a marathon of 80’s hip hop movies, Ramón’s passion for art made a huge impression on my four-year-old self. The fact that he was making beautiful, large-scale murals (or burners as he referred to them) on the dilapidated buildings and stark white trains of the Bronx with a few cans of spray paint was fascinating to me. This random Saturday afternoon of film viewing is burned into my mind because of how upset I was when the character dies while chasing a rival. For four-year-old Brandon, this meant the end of all graffiti and street art. Thankfully, my parents were patient enough to explain to an inconsolable child that this movie was a fictional story and that Ramón was just a character played by an actor. However, for me, Ramón isn’t just a character. That character represents the idea of taking the mundane, battered, and neglected sections of a city and injecting life into it. His passion lives in the painted walls of Baltimore City, its citizens who are randomly confronted with these urban creative expressions, the artists who do it for the love, the thrill, and/or the pay, and the people who shared their thoughts with me. This collection of photographs hopes to represent the spirit of Ramón’s “baddest burner” —“If Art is a Crime, may God forgive me!”—as well as his efforts to make his city beautiful. Street art is a necessary element of urban life that provides culture to the less fortunate, a voice to the voiceless, beauty for decaying and forgotten relics, and excitement to bland, monotonous city infrastructure.
Brandon Parker Author
“I’ve rarely ever seen grafiti that makes me think...I feel there’s less potency to street art nowadays. Or maybe rather it’s just that we’ll all ind our own meanings in it. But isn’t that what art’s all about?”
Zachary Hock
Photographer & Pyrotechnic Designer
“Street art has the impact of reaching people who are not regularly exposed to great art and has the ability to open doors to those places.That power needs to be taken advantage of and used in the most needy places.�
Joi Bunt in
Writer & Designer
“Street art is pure…one of the least restrictive facets of art there is. It allows you to get a feel of that neighborhood and what they or a particular group are repping/feeling/ concerned about/hoping to see in their future. People brave enough to scale ire escapes and buildings to share their talent should deinitely be appreciated. As someone who wasn’t born or raised here, street art helps me learn more about communities and pushes me to ind out more about the neighborhood.”
Ashley–Kaye Allen
Graphic Designer
“Since the dawn of human age, it’s been a natural urge for humanity to express themselves and tell stories through scribing things onto walls. Street art is an expression of a community and should be treated as such.”
Jessica Taylor Actress
“I use the art as a tool to bring community dialogue up and talk about issues that are important in that neighborhood that need to be discussed. With street artwork, you can hit everyday people who’ve never walked into a gallery and they see your art and are confronted with it. If you’re doing a good job as an artist, you’re going to be able to communicate something to them and make them feel something. You have a captive audience that’s not anticipating having to talk about art…not expecting to talk about composition or social messages. Getting that raw emotion on the streets and that immediate response is fuel for alot of us.”
Michael Owen Contemporary Painter; Creator & Lead Artist, Baltimore Love Project
“I like to make work based on everyday people and try to convey their story whatever it may be. [Street art] becomes the voice of those who are not able to speak out on their own.�
Chris Stain
Artist
“Street art helps put an end to the monotony of Baltimore with its vibrant colors and unique typography.�
Parrish Moss
Graphic Designer
“In Baltimore, street art is a love/pain activity. It’s a way to show yourself to the world. Most people won’t understand it but you know what it means”
Jasmine Gibson
Deputy Director of Marketing & Communications (Student Council), University System of Maryland
“Street art represents urbanism. Without, it really wouldn’t be a city.”
Jessica Kim
Art Enthusiast
“I love street art because I like knowing the meaning behind art itself. Sometimes I need inspiration through someone else’s talent to show the public what is going on in the world or in our own backyard.”
Breon Ebanks
Filmmaker
“Can’t make it worse by making it colorful. Street art makes it better.” St even FreeMan
Artist & Photographer
“Street art is the zeitgeist of the city. When I’m in an area heavily populated with street art, I know I’m in a cool part of town that’s creative, youthful, and a little dangerous. These things are important to me because bland walls and corporate propaganda do not a thriving city make. Commercial advertising is very boring. Facile. Beige. I want color. I want to see the story of these streets scrawled on the city walls.” Mike Smit h
Quasar
“Besides street art being a way for people to express themselves, it also can be used to bring awareness to other issues going on in Baltimore such as politics and police brutality such as the Freddie Gray mural. Being a journalist, it’s very rare that I can have an opinion about social issues that go on in the city. Often, I’ll see things –whether it’s on the street or on social media– that says exactly how I feel and I’m glad someone has bought it to the forefront.” Michelle Richardson
Assistant Assignment Editor WJZ Channel 13 CBS Baltimore
“Street art has the gift to be able to convey any social message you desire and it can be displayed just about anywhere to reach any audience you want. That’s why it’s important. Even if it’s illegal, if you think you have a message to get out there, using street art as platform to show off your work is a great way to get the job done.” Fadhil Khan
Filmmaker
“Street art is really big in Baltimore because there is so much history and culture in this city. From crabs to riots, all of it is being displayed on the walls for the world to see and each tell a different story.� Barkado Abdale
Makeup Artist
“In Baltimore, street art sends a message of social awareness and it’s effective because of its reach. So many people come across the pieces that have an in-your-face style of delivery.” Akeel Shabazz Photographer
“I commend the artists that have a voice. They have a message that all of us can surely relate to and they take their thoughts, ideas, and emotions, create these wonderful pieces, and they choose a unique way to share it with us. A simple painting or phrase can speak volumes, all while addressing the issues that consume us within our community.� Court n eye Drake
Creative Brand Expert
“In a lot of ways, I feel it helps convey the personality of urban areas, since it differs from city to city. Most of the street art I’ve seen in Baltimore either tells a story or represent the culture. It’s out in the open so there’s a much higher chance of reaching a larger audience than a gallery piece would. This also means that it would be reaching a more diverse audience than the typical museum-goers.” Paul Frimpong
Baltimore Resident of 3 Years
“There are worse things that they could be doing than drawing on these walls...� Daryl Whit e
Baltimore Resident of 30 Years
The book design and photography are by Brandon Parker for Senior Seminar at the University of Baltimore, Spring 2016. This book was inspired by photographer Vesa Lehtimaki’s LEGO Star Wars: Small Scenes from a Big Galaxy. Lehtimaki’s book featured a minimalist design with large, detailed photos of his sets. I attempted to replicate this so the details and colors of the images would stand out amongst the white space. The photographs were edited with Adobe Photoshop CC and actions from Greater than Gatsby. The text of this book is typeset in Gill Sans, a humanist typeface originally designed by Eric Gill in 1928. This font family is inspired by Edward Johnston’s “Underground Alphabet”, the official font of London Underground. The italic weight was used for the quotes while the semibold weight was used for the occupation/interest/identifier of the respondents. The regular weight was used for the introduction and colophon. Blowbrush, a script typeface inspired by graffiti and designed by Peter Acanski in 2016, was used for the names of respondents. The title of the book was suggested by Joi Buntin during a conversation regarding our respective projects for Senior Seminar.