On and Off the Wall

Street Art | Graffiti, Murals, Posters, and Signs

 Inside a bell at a pilgrimage site, Mingun, Myanmar/Burma

Graffiti has existed since ancient Greece and Rome.  It expresses political and cultural views, and many consider it an art form.

Myanmar/Burma

 Havana, Cuba

When there are cultural and political shifts, it is sometimes possible to see the earliest indications  by literally looking at the “writing on the wall.”

 Havana, Cuba

Berlin, Germany

 

 Posters are found in public places all over the world. They are  designed to attract the attention of passers-by and entice them to purchase a particular product or service, make them aware of a political viewpoint, or attend a specific event. If suddenly it were decreed that they all must disappear, it would seem that all color had disappeared from the urban landscape, and the cities would appear a mournful gray.
- Max Gallo

 Poster Studio, Mumbai/Bombay, India

Venice, Italy 

Anand, Gujarat, India

 Dentist’s Clinic, Ujjain, India 

 New York, NY

 Throughout the world there have been murals on walls as long as there have been people to scratch them, paint them, etch them, carve them and make them.

New York, NY 

Street art on the pavement at Seventh Avenue & Bleecker Street, New York

From the prehistoric cave paintings at Lascaux, France, to the ceremonial and celebratory murals of ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome,
India, and Mesopotamia, the history of murals is long,  rich and varied.
 

Los Angeles, California

  Ancient murals often depicted activities in which the people of the time engaged, from religious ceremonies to
scenes of hunting and gathering for sustenance.
- Kaizaad Kotwal

 Mujahid, Kabul, Afghanistan

 Kunduz, Afghanistan

 Young men admiring Movie Poster, Pul-i-Khumri, Afghanistan 

 Poster Vendor, Kabul, Afghanistan 

 Posters are mirrors because they reflect and sometimes distort the culture and the customs of the time.
- Max Gallo

Metro Station, Paris, France

Nice piece in PhotoShelter blog:

http://blog.photoshelter.com/2011/07/steve-mccurry-the-iconic-photographs-unboxing.html