everyday graffiti

A few years ago, I found a photo collection at my local public library called Bad Graffiti, and looking at it permanently changed how I do photography. The world of photography on my social media is somewhat narrow, I find: my feed is all portraits and street photography and events and landscapes, with the occasional editorial shoot. In Bad Graffiti, however, Scott Hocking went out of his way to photograph the derelict, the abandoned, and the mundane, finding things to highlight in often overlooked spaces. I started photographing graffiti as a direct homage to Hocking’s work, and was delighted to find out how fun it was to pay attention to the walls in my own city. The walls in any city are rich with visual interest, and occasionally, humour.

This isn’t a collection of “bad graffiti,” but rather, a somewhat representative sample of what I found on various walks through Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, and Toronto. Bad Graffiti inspired me to pay closer attention to what’s around me and broaden my definition of what’s “interesting” to photograph. Hopefully this zine can do the same for you.