All posts tagged: 12 Best Street Art Photos of 2012

Alice Pasquini Photographed by Jessica Stewart

December 31, 2012 Artists

We’re counting down the last 12 days of 2012 with Street Art photos chosen by BSA readers. Each one was nominated because it has special meaning to a reader or is simply a photograph from 2012 that they think is great. Our sincere thanks to everyone who shared their favorite images.

Our twelfth and final nomination for the year comes from the proud mother of a photographer who writes in to nominate a photo by her daughter, Jessica Stewart, a dedicated Street Art fan and documentarian. It’s good to see how many people nominated loved ones and friends photos for this special series, and it feels perfect for the holiday spirit of generosity and compassion we all would like to espouse during the end of the year and the beginning of the next. Who can forget the person who gave you encouragement and confidence while pursuing your goals?

Stewie is living in Hopkinton, Massachusetts and sends in this image of an Alice Paquini piece and tells us all about her daughter, “Jessica has lived in Rome, Italy for the past 7 years and has recently published a book about her street art photos and the artists behind them.”

Alice Pasquini (photo © Jessica Stewart)

Visit Jessica’s Flickr page to see more photos of her work here. And the book features a collection of images from the Rome Street Art scene. Check it out!

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A Special Note to all the BSA readers who wrote in and sent images of their favorite Street Art images this month. We are sincerely thankful for your nominations, and there were so many excellent and incredible images to choose from thanks to you. We tried to pick a cross section of images from different perspectives, and it was completely unscientific so please don’t take it personally if your image didn’t appear in one of the 12 spots. We value your participation, and we sincerely thank you for writing to us.

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Check out the BSA Images of 2012 video here.

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Os Gemeos Photographed by Geoff Hargadon

December 30, 2012 Artists

Our eleventh entry comes from photographer Geoff Hargadon and it was taken in Boston, Ma. This mural was nominated by Daniel LaHoda from Los Angeles, CA as one of the best of the year and we’re glad Geoff, one of the most enthusiastically deadpan Street Art supporters we know, was there to capture this shot on a green summer day.

Os Gemeos (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

The Brazilian Twins painted this huge mural as part of their first solo show at the ICA Museum in Boston, organized by Pedro Alonzo.

Daniel LaHoda is the founder of LA Freewalls Project in Los Angeles, CA.

Visit Geoff Hargadon’s Flickr page to see more photos of his work here.

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Check out the BSA Images of 2012 video here.

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Mobstr Photographed by Ian Cox

December 29, 2012 Artists

Our tenth entry comes from photographer Ian Cox and was taken at this year’s NUART Festival in Stavanger, Norway. This entry was nominated by Martyn Reed, founder of NUART, who waxes below about the photo and it’s taker.

“Ian Cox, fast becoming one of the scenes’ leading documentarians, captured this perfect shot of Mobstr’s piece for Nuart. Ian headed out during a relentless downpour and waited for his moment. For me, it captures so much of what is usually missed when documenting street works; its site specificity (The downhill sloping wall was a nightmare to source), how it’s not only seen but also “activated” by people passing by, its humour, the concept and how it allows a photographer to also add new layers of meaning.”

The initial pun is elevated to new levels when viewed through the lens of a remarkable photographer,” remarks Mr. Reed.

Mobstr (photo © Ian Cox)

Visit Ian Cox Flickr page to see more photos of his work here.

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Check out the BSA Images of 2012 video here.

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Rime MSK Photographed by Oliver Correa

December 28, 2012 Artists

We’re counting down the last 12 days of 2012 with Street Art photos chosen by BSA readers. Each one was nominated because it has special meaning to a reader or is simply a great photograph from 2012 that they think is great. Our sincere thanks to everyone who shared their favorite images.

Our ninth entry comes from photographer Oliver Correa and it was taken in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami during Art Basel 2012. Often the shot is about recording the art. The less featured view is the one that reveals the personal, even intimate relationship people can feel toward it on the street.

In Miami during Basel you’ll see many people posing hard with their crews in front of walls, and then you’ll see friends taking cellphone shots of each other, and couples, families…. all kinds of affinities are posed in front to remember that moment. This one from Oliver somehow goes a little deeper – giving you a sense of the warmth and connection people feel with art in the streets when it speaks to them. The RIME piece goes along the block on North Miami Avenue with a variety of faces and expressions, mimicing the party atmosphere and the multiple conversations taking place – ultimately it was one of the most engaging for many.

“The person in the photo is a friend I made wandering Wynwood,” says the photographer.

Rime MSK (photo © Oliver Correa)

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Check out the BSA Images of 2012 video here.

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Faile Photographed by Robin Pope

December 26, 2012 Artists

Our seventh entry comes from photographer Robin Pope and it was nominated by Anne Trotman; a large image of a down-on-his-luck fella by Brooklyn collective Faile that says, “I Used to Be Worth Something.” The figure sits on a curb with his head in his hands and the New York skyline behind him, and it became one of the most photographed pieces this year – perhaps because the ever-more rough economy in New York has become so challenging and even frightening to average and poor New Yorkers. Trotman says this image on Wythe Street, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn was taken “on one of the only days of snow in 2012.”

Faile “I Used to be Worth Something” (photo © Robin Pope)

For more Street Art shots and his other photography by Robin Pope visit his Flickr HERE.

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Check out the BSA Images of 2012 video here.

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Apexer Photographed by Jim Prigoff

December 25, 2012 Artists

Our sixth entry comes from photographer, author, and lecturer James Prigoff, acclaimed for his extensive documenting of many aerosol art movements since he began shooting them worldwide in the 1960s. Not only do we dig his entry into our 12 Photos of ’12 because of it’s diverse, colorful, and celebratory nature, we’re honored because Jim doesn’t usually do this sort of thing. “I have never sent a photo to any web site for publication and doubt that I will in the future. However, you fellows are doing such a diligent and excellent job in documenting the many forms of Graff and Street Art, that I decided to forward this very special piece of art,” he writes.

For his nomination, Prigoff chooses this 2012 piece by Apexer in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. Some photographers may dive in for a detail shot of this vibrant work, but Jim says, “I believe in photographing the art in context to its location, not just a detail that could be anywhere. “

Our sincere thanks to him and and we wish a very Merry Christmas to those who are celebrating it today.

“Apex has been painting meticulously drawn, very colorful 3-D Images for a number of years. An early one appeared in my co-authored book ‘Walls of Heritage – Walls of Pride – History of African American murals’. His approach was quite different from the very early work of Daim and Ernie. Each year the work has shown increased sophistication. This image is by far the most unusual of his work thus far. It was exciting to discover it, ” says Prigoff.

To see a list of books authored by James Prigoff, click here.

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Check out the BSA Images of 2012 video here.

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ECB Photographed by Joel Zimmer

December 24, 2012 Artists

Our fifth entry comes from Joel Zimmer from NYC, who nominates this photo taken in Bushwick, Brooklyn in NYC. Many Street Art photographers these days like to experiment with their craft in addition to simply documenting someone elses, and we’re all in favor. Here Joel experiments and bends the planes of the wall to reach out to the viewer. Joel explains that this is a triple exposure of the ECB mural with an Over Under mural under it. He says he made the image “in camera” using a Yashica-A and Portra 400.

Visit Joel Zimmer’s site to see more photos of his work here.

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Check out the BSA Images of 2012 video here.

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Won and Secr Photographed by Luna Park

December 23, 2012 Artists

Our fourth entry comes from the ever-present effervescent New York based photographer Luna Park. Luna offers this photo as one of her favorites from this year because it presents a departure from the standard fare that she regularly records and documents in the graffiti and Street Art scene: a hybrid. For a scene that can be prideful of often taking a rebellious stance, there can be more stylistic rigidity and repetition than one might expect. In this photo captured in The Bronx, NYC, Luna sees artists who are daring to re-create and challenge the genre with a spirit of experimentation.

“This enormous, illegal track side piece by Won and Secr (both RA crew) in the Bronx blew me away because it was the first so-called ‘hybrid’ piece I ever saw in person,” explains Luna as she talks about her reaction to finding it. “It isn’t very often that one witnesses innovation in graffiti, but this part-extinguisher/part-burner gets high marks for being original,” says Park.

Visit Luna Park’s Flickr page for more photos of her work here.

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Check out the BSA Images of 2012 video here.

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