Layered Tags

The side of this building on Admiral Street in Providence has been a multi-layered canvas for years. There are at least a half dozen individual tags, in various layers, obvious in this shot alone. There was a time where graffiti street etiquette dictated that one did not tag over someone else's work, however it's clear in this shot that the etiquette does not apply here.

Surprisingly, Providence has relatively little graffiti compared to other cities of similar size and demographics. It may have to do with increased enforcement, but that seems unlikely. In 2007, RI increased the penalties for creating graffiti to $500 and 100 hours of community service. The city of Providence has an even stiffer ordinance that imposes a $1000 fine and 100 hours of community service. Enforcement, however, is sparse, since the law demands that the person charged must be caught in the act of tagging. Of course, this also means that most of the better artwork are in areas typically inaccessible without breaking other laws or risking your neck. Walls along the Amtrak lines, for example, are covered with some beautiful street art, however I'm somewhat reluctant to play "Dodge the Acela" to get the photo.

Post processing started with a detail light photo in Topaz Adjust. Yes, I seriously did consider doing this as a black and white, but in the end I decided to stick with color. So I adjusted adaptive exposure and contrast. Then in PSE I added a levels adjustment. No filters were added to the shot. The green is all mold and algae growing on the side of the building.

[Sandra]

Great picture. I think the color adds to the character of this picture.

[Karen H]

But those taggers played the dodge game, Seems a lot of wonderful shots are inaccessible. I get very frustrated on the freeway with the fabulous pics I can't shoot.