'Brixton signs and graffiti' - new photo collection [Archive]

editor

11-03-2004, 20:22

I've just uploaded a new 60-page project based on Brixton shop signs and street graffiti.

There's one or two design tweaks to be finished, but the photos are all up - see what you think! (http://www.urban75.org/brixton/photos/brix001.html)

(please PM me if you spot any typos etc)

Stobart Stopper

11-03-2004, 20:38

They are really good Mike. I love seeking out those old, Victorian painted signs/adverts that they used on the side of buildings. Walthamstow has quite a few left if you know where to look.

tom796

11-03-2004, 20:40

wonderful collection of photos, as always, mike.

my fave is the david grieg mosaic here (http://www.urban75.org/brixton/photos/brix028.html) but i also like all the bizarre handwritten messages, like 'don't run over the pidgeons'

:)

tom x

DJWrongspeed

12-03-2004, 09:01

wow mike, what a labour of love, is Banksy in there? not that he really needs to be given all the other fascinating Brixton styles goin on.

Minnie_the_Minx

12-03-2004, 09:19

Interesting pictures.

Shame though to see what was probably a lovely building in such a state.

http://www.urban75.org/brixton/photos/images/brix041.jpg :(

Elpenor

12-03-2004, 09:33

They are really good Mike. I love seeking out those old, Victorian painted signs/adverts that they used on the side of buildings. Walthamstow has quite a few left if you know where to look.

I've begun to notice these painted signs in Reading, along with heaps of Victorian brickwork, often above the shops in the high street. Time for a sortie with my mate's digital camera I think.

Good photos, liked the ones of the street art :)

hatboy

12-03-2004, 11:54

That "toxic" gets around doesn't he.

Mm, layers and decay.... have you seen this Mike?

http://www.tnunn.ndo.co.uk/main.htm

New homepages look great by the way.

:)

lang rabbie

12-03-2004, 12:01

Great photos - the one of Brixton Station scaffolding in the sunlight looks a lot more atttractive than the building itself!

editor

12-03-2004, 12:05

Sadly, the attractive clock tower at the Railway Hotel has attracted the attention of taggers:

http://www.urban75.org/brixton/photos/images/brix061.jpg

The same prat has also sprayed all over the first floor brickwork of the shops facing the Lounge on Atlantic Road. It looks shit.

hatboy

12-03-2004, 12:14

Well, sort of. My personal feeling is that poor architecture, whether tagged or not, always looks crap and looks even more depressing when graffitied.

Architecture of quality still shines thru the graf and I'd even go as far as to say that that clock tower looks strangely beautiful. It's all part of urban lives and landscape.

:)

editor

12-03-2004, 12:19

Well, sort of. My personal feeling is that poor architecture, whether tagged or not, always looks crap and looks even more depressing when graffitied.
Have you seen the long row of tags above the shops on Atlantic Road?

Graffiti can sometimes add something to the urban environment, but what's there is just mindless ego-vandalism.

aurora green

12-03-2004, 12:19

Sadly, the attractive clock tower at the Railway Hotel has attracted the attention of taggers

It's no wonder. That building has been empty for far too long.
I mean, anyone know what's going on with that anyway?

lang rabbie

12-03-2004, 13:05

Architecture of quality still shines thru the graf and I'd even go as far as to say that that clock tower looks strangely beautiful. It's all part of urban lives and landscape. :)

Can't agree in this case. But even more depressingly, if they look up from their Evening Standard, too many train travellers passing through to their homes in the leafy outer London suburbs or Kent will take this high visibility tag as representative of the attitude to their environment of all urban youths. In some cases it will reinforce their prejudices when they see Brixton or SW9 on a potential employee's CV. :(

editor

12-03-2004, 13:25

Lordy! I've just realised how many pictures of signs, graffiti and details I've acquired around Brixton over the years, so this could turn into another big project!

I've just posted up another 15 photos here (http://www.urban75.org/brixton/photos/brix061.html)

PS Hatboy - top link fella!

hatboy

12-03-2004, 13:30

Can't agree in this case. But even more depressingly, if they look up from their Evening Standard, too many train travellers passing through to their homes in the leafy outer London suburbs or Kent will take this high visibility tag as representative of the attitude to their environment of all urban youths. In some cases it will reinforce their prejudices when they see Brixton or SW9 on a potential employee's CV. :(

Well fuck them and their ignorance then. Piss off with that. "Don't do things others may misinterpret because of their prejudice" isn't my philosophy. Let them get educated.

Yes I've seen the stuff opposite Lounge. I don't really mind. To me decaying Victorian and graf look good sometimes. But I'm aware that is an unconventional and unpopular view to most. I'm looking at it in an "art" type of way. That is my opinion. Any further response can be found on the "tagging" thread.

:)

editor

12-03-2004, 13:35

Yes I've seen the stuff opposite Lounge. I don't really mind. To me decaying Victorian and graf look good sometimes. But I'm aware that is an unconventional and unpopular view to most. I'm looking at it in an "art" type of way. That is my opinion.
I don't mind some graffiti. Some work can really improve dull, bleak urban areas, add character or be interesting pieces of art in their own right (that's why I photograph them!)

But I have to say I find nothing appealing or arty in a long row of ego-parading shite tags scrawled across the Edwardian brickwork on Atlantic Road.

That's not art. That's dull vandalism.

And I bet you wouldn't like it if it was all over your walls, eh? ;)

onenameshelley

12-03-2004, 13:46

Hey Mike really nice photos

Your photo sections this week have really helped to brighten up my week.

Though going through these it reminds me that there are so many places in Brixton i am yet to find :( . I need a guide otherwise i am bound to get lost and end up god knows where. :rolleyes:

hatboy

12-03-2004, 13:56

"And I bet you wouldn't like it if it was all over your walls, eh?"

I'm not a hypocrite. If I had a side wall or lived in a "decaying Victorian" property I might accept it. There's nowhere to put it on my flat really. Anyway, no big deal. But you can't tell me what is art and what isn't (and vice versa). It's personal taste.

:)

editor

12-03-2004, 14:14

If I had a side wall or lived in a "decaying Victorian" property I might accept it. There's nowhere to put it on my flat really. Anyway, no big deal. Come on fella: if that was scrawled all over your front door and the brickwork of your flat, you'd be well pissed off!

I certainly would be.

And the brickwork on Atlantic Road is not 'decaying Victorian' at all: it's recently cleaned and in excellent condition. That's why I've commented on how ugly this particular piece of tagging looks.

hatboy

12-03-2004, 14:27

OK, OK!! I do honestly like the colours and shapes on the clock tower tho. But, ideally, I'd like to see Brady's renovated, restored and open as a music venue. It's OK for now. And it is part of life. Just not one that angers me much.

You know what I hate. I hate the poor planning of "Little Brookside" in Railton. Bad design, ugly, bland, cuts off the rest of Railton from Brixton centre. Utterly shit. (I'm glad it's social housing, but the architecture is really poor, an insult I'd say).

By the way, look at the development in Morval/Trelawn roads. Good enough design but the terraces for sale are all perfecctly finished and the social housing bit isn't, especially the garden and fencing.

If developers are required to provide social housing, doesn't anyone go and inspect to see it's finished properly? It pisses me off that new buildings aren't even finished before they start to fall apart again. And it's an insult again to leave the poor people's bit in a mess and finish the for sale bit perfectly.

:)

Lazy Llama

12-03-2004, 17:52

The one that really pisses me off is the tagging that's appeared over the fantastic mural on the corner of Glenelg Road and Strathleven Road.

I've been here for 12 years and that mural was always a colourful and cheerful addition to the area (though it has faded a bit over time), but over the past few months, they've started tagging over the lower half of it.

Some photos here (http://www.lazyllama.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=38)

editor

12-03-2004, 18:26

I've been here for 12 years and that mural was always a colourful and cheerful addition to the area (though it has faded a bit over time), but over the past few months, they've started tagging over the lower half of it. If I remember I'll take and post a photo.I've got a picture of it somewhere.

It wasn't exactly high art though , was it? ;)

Lazy Llama

12-03-2004, 18:55

It wasn't exactly high art though , was it? ;) Maybe not, but how many others are there with Trompe L'Oeil and real windows incorporated into them?

(No, I didn't know what Trompe L'Oeil was until I looked it up just now).

Thomas77

12-03-2004, 19:45

Those pictures are sheer class.. It's amazing what the eye sees but never really takes in until captured in an image.

Just for info I take the 159 bus in the morning on my way to my work at Victoria. About half a mile from Brixton town centre there is a big U 75 spray painted on (not sure the technical term), six foot boards to keep people out of a building site!! Every morning I am reminded of the boards some of the interesting people and some of the lets say loonies!!

lang rabbie

13-03-2004, 08:06

The one that really pisses me off is the tagging that's appeared over the fantastic mural on the corner of Glenelg Road and Strathleven Road.
We also lost the bottom of the Brixton station mural (http://www.urban75.org/brixton/photos/brix010.html) to them a few years back - it used to go all the way down to the level of the staircase landing. The tagging was followed by attempts to destroy the structure of the mural by brute force and fire.

hatboy

13-03-2004, 11:25

By the way, look at the development in Morval/Trelawn roads. Good enough design but the terraces for sale are all perfecctly finished and the social housing bit isn't, especially the garden and fencing.

If developers are required to provide social housing, doesn't anyone go and inspect to see it's finished properly? It pisses me off that new buildings aren't even finished before they start to fall apart again. And it's an insult again to leave the poor people's bit in a mess and finish the for sale bit perfectly.

Can someone answer this. Lang?

Minnie_the_Minx

15-03-2004, 09:35

hatboy

15-03-2004, 12:06

It's already been discussed. The thread's here somewhere.

Minnie - naughty! :)

Mrs Redboots

15-03-2004, 16:22

I've got a picture of it somewhere.

It wasn't exactly high art though , was it? ;)
Oh, I dunno.... I was there when it was being painted and a great many local children (well, they were children then!) are featured.

The one I like is the horses in Margate Road.

ernestolynch

15-03-2004, 16:32

Fascinating set of pictures, ed. Really makes me want to go out with my camera, if I liked where I live. :(

IntoStella

15-03-2004, 16:34

(No, I didn't know what Trompe L'Oeil was until I looked it up just now).Yeah, it's Frenchish for 'Oily fart'. ;)

Funny how Dale McCrae's nightmare vision of death astride a nuke-torn London (aka the side of Carlton mansions) never figures highly in people's top ten Brixton murals list. ;)

lang rabbie

15-03-2004, 16:41

[Taking the thread further off topic - at our esteemed moderators request :) ]

By the way, look at the development in Morval/Trelawn roads. Good enough design but the terraces for sale are all perfecctly finished and the social housing bit isn't, especially the garden and fencing.

If developers are required to provide social housing, doesn't anyone go and inspect to see it's finished properly? It pisses me off that new buildings aren't even finished before they start to fall apart again. And it's an insult again to leave the poor people's bit in a mess and finish the for sale bit perfectly.

Can someone answer this. Lang?

The quality of finish generally isn't a planning issue, unless there are specific conditions e.g. use of facing materials of a certain quality/colour.

My suspicion is that this arises because most of the local Housing Associations to whom the affordable housing is allocated don't have building/surveying staff "in-house" - they often just have people who manage repairs/maintenance contracts. The HAs therefore aren't willing/able to challenge the builders in the way that an owner occupier (with rights under NHBC guarantee on workmanship etc) would.

And because the people that they are rehousing are generally just grateful to be in space that is self-contained/has enough rooms for their family, there is pressure on the HA not to delay occupying the properties while "desnagging" takes place.

hatboy

15-03-2004, 17:36

Thankyou Lang... and welcome Mrs Redboots. (Nice name) :)

Brixton Hatter

16-03-2004, 16:59

Mike, this is wicked stuff, nice one. I really enjoyed going through and seeing which ones I recognised.

I'm not trying to be an old brown nose, but it really is appreciated that you do this. A lot of the stuff you've photographed probably wont be here in a few years time so the site really does serve its purpose as a historical record of Brixton's aesthetic. :)

There's a few other signs I see regularly that would be good to include (e.g. the "S. ERRINGTON - DEALER IN ANTIQUE AND SECONDHAND FURNITURE" sign painted on the end of a house in Brixton Water Lane) - can I send you digi pictures of them for inclusion?