13 from 2013 : Ryan Oakes “Shooting a Banksy in Brooklyn”

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Happy Holidays to all you stupendous and talented and charming BSA readers! We thank you from the bottom of our socks for your support this year. The best way we can think of to celebrate and commemorate the year as we finish it is to bring you 13 FROM 2013 – Just one favorite image from a Street Art or graffiti photographer that brings a story, a remembrance, an insight or a bit of inspiration to the person who took it. For the last 13 days they will share a gem with all of us as we collectively say goodbye and thank you to ’13.

December-22

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2013 brought the level of enthusiastic participatory fandom to new heights for the Street Art scene and the October New York “residency” by international man of mystery Banksy revealed both the full integration of social media with the street and the avid following that some Street Art can engage. We invited sincere New York Street Art fan Ryan Oakes to share with BSA readers one of his favorite Banksy shots and to tell us why it appeals to him.

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Banksy in Red Hook, Brooklyn, NYC 2013. (photo © Ryan Oakes)

Shooting a Banksy in Brooklyn

~ Ryan Oakes

This was my favorite piece from the Banksy month-long exhibition, but not only because I was actually able to catch it in the wild before it was defaced – a mere two hours after getting posted to Banksy’s Instagram.

I was determined to find one of the pieces during the month, and waited eagerly each day for the posts. When this one went up on his site, I seemed to recognize the area stores in background of the photo. Combining some online chatter and Google Maps Street View I was able to locate the building in Red Hook.

My wife and I happened to be home that morning, as we were expecting the birth of our first child any day that week. Realizing we would soon be losing the ability to be quite as spontaneous once the little guy arrived, we instantly jumped in the car.

It was a lovely moment for us to find the Banksy heart balloon sitting there in Red Hook…. my wife and I had gotten married just a few blocks down the street on the Red Hook waterfront.

 

Banksy

Red Hook, Brooklyn. 2013

 

“The day we find out the true identity of Banksy, you might as well pull the beard off of Santa Claus too.” Read Banksy’s Final Trick on the Huffington Post 

Check out our Brooklyn Street Art 2013 Images of the Year by Jaime Rojo here.

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!

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