juxtaposition

graffiti (?) - morocco. again, i know i am stretching the definition of graffiti. is it just me - or do we not see a lot of hand-painted signage in the states? i just love the aesthetic it adds to the already visually stimulating old city in casablanca. all it says is : women’s mosque - but it’s so cool. 

graffiti - jerusalem. stencil art. i love the idea of someone making the stencil of the ka’aba - planning all the places they want to tag it…

graffiti - jerusalem. stencil art on the wall of a mosque. do you suppose the israeli police barrier is there to protect the art?

graffiti (?) - jerusalem. i know this is stretching the definition of graffiti - like the ones on the wall of my istanbul hotel room below. these are interior - not exterior - but they aren’t really just paintings either - the wall goes, these go with it. maybe i should just call them murals - but i don’t want to. this is on the wall inside the offices of the “israeli committee against housing demolitions”, whose work should be commended: www.icahd.org

close up of the above

graffiti - istanbul. stencil art on the wall of my room. this one is creepy - totally reminds me of the scary ghost twins in “the shining”.

graffiti - istanbul. stencil graffito on the wall of my room in an instabul hostel.

graffiti - jerusalem. happy hanukkah.

graffiti - jerusalem. haha. ahmadinejad with bunny ears. i really hope this one makes it into the future. and i love love love the stencil graffiti.

graffiti? byzantine christian museum - athens, greece. does this count as graffiti? sometime in the 5th century - someone decided to take a relief of medusa, turn it around, and make a cross instead. the times they were a-changing. i’m gonna go ahead and say it counts - using this definition:

graf·fi·to

“graffiti pronunciation” /></a> /grəˈfitoʊ/ [gruh-fee-toh] 

  1. Archaeology . an ancient drawing or writing scratched on a wall or other surface.

works for me.

graffiti - yemen. i walked by this particular piece of graffiti everyday for a year. it fascinates me. the arabic reads: “the alley of return”. and who is lolo? did the same person write both lines? why arabic and english? is lolo supposed to meet someone here, in this alley? to add to the mystery - i saw two other “comeback lolo” graffiti in sana’a. someone misses lolo very much.

and my own rendition of the above.

graffiti - yemen. i saw a lot of graffiti like this in yemen. simple, religious messages on boulders along the side of the road. this one says “glory to god”. there’s an innocence about these that always touches me - as someone who has seen the obscene end of text graffiti at L stops in chicago, or truck stops in texas, or even girl’s bathrooms in high school…

graffiti - jerusalem. on the wall of the hostel i stayed in.

graffiti - jerusalem. this is on the separation barrier, what is usually just referred to as the WALL, whose principal function is to separate israel from the palestinian territory (but it does so much more…). it is a very emotionally charged piece of architecture, obviously. yet, still - these graffiti are so mundane, so a-political. the french reads: “because it was him; because it was me”.