Canal Saint-Martin, Paris

One lovely place to take a leisurely stroll is along St. Martin's Canal.  This old canal is still used by tourist boats but seems to be less frequently used by the traditional canal boats to haul goods.  The canal begins at the River Seine, heads directly north and then disappears underground at Bastille.  It remains underground until it emerges several blocks NE of Place de la République, which is where I started.  The Place de la République is one of the enormous métro hubs, an area offering cheaper hotels--for a reason--it's just a tad dicey at times.  The day was heavily overcast, promising and delivering rain, lots of it.

Most of these photos have the theme of water because I used a telephoto to take photos of buildings and people on the other side of the fairly wide canal.  There is also something interesting about murals painted illegally on buildings, and their colors become vivid when the lighting is not too bright.

I took the métro to République, headed for the canal, and just started walking.

I was fascinated by the graffiti in this area.  Some of it was quite handsome.

Sandro y Los Fuego graffiti

Los de Fuego (Those of the fire) was one of the first rock and roll bands in Argentina (1960-1966).  Its vocalist was Sandro, now deceased but fondly remembered not only by the artist portraying him in this beautiful aerosolgrafia, but also by fans adding notes nearly half a century later.  Some remembered the group both by the lead singer's name and the group's name.  Fire naturally plays a dominant role in the art.

Graffiti in Recoleta, Buenos Aires

Graffiti in Buenos Aires has vibrant colours, wonderfully sweeping forms, and exhibits techniques that are truly artistic.

Aerosolegrafia etc. found near Station Street, Vancouver, B.C.

Some wall murals spray painted by graffiti artists in 2007 still survive near Vancouver's Station Street.

Air conditioner grill

 

Aerosolegrafia in Vancouver

Aerosolegrafia and Graffiti in Vancouver

I recently revisited three favourite sites for graffiti in downtown Vancouver.  Each continues to change with the passing of the months.  2010 was a disastre for graffiti aficionados because the city forced everybody to repaint interesting alleyways back into dull uniform alleyway colours.  But some artistic life is slowly returning, and a few new murals have appeared.  In every case, artists are unknown to me by name, and I use only macrophotography, which admittedly never includes an entire work of art.

First, a shot of a young lady on break, texting (what else) on a ledge in one of the repainted alleys. It is stark.

On to the beautiful art found elsewhere . . . .