Street Art

I've made a new discovery this year, a new found love for street art. Aren't street art and graffiti the same thing? Well no, street art makes you think, it's a guerrilla art form, a new form of propaganda. I think this whole obsession started in Photography this year as we were flicking through artist books to gain inspiration. I came across Banksy: Wall and Piece, an amazing insight into Banksy's world and his creations. I'd heard of Banksy before, don't get me wrong, but seeing the effort and what he wanted to show through his art really got me, so that weekend I rented Exit Through The Gift Shop and I was converted. I'd always thought there was no difference between street art and graffiti, I thought it was created by miscreants and wrong-doers, people who were doing it because it was 'cool'. However, after watching Exit through the Gift Shop I realised it's about expressing yourself. It's a new way for political activists to anonymously share their, sometimes quite direct, views. On my travels I began documenting the ones that I enjoyed most. Some I like because they made me think, others just because they truly were art. 

Who could miss London's Southbank Skatepark? 

An art installation just around the corner from Trafalgar Square, the artist was making a statement about global warming and the 'suffocation' of trees.

All the above were within 100m from each other at the top end of Portobello Rd in Notting Hill, I was fairly stoked at finding a genuine Banksy, and if you look closely, you can see I'd already bought a wall decal replica.

 Space Invader on the Locket Bridge in Paris.