Palimpsest

I have lost my way, photographically. What I loved most about photography was documenting movements for justice, celebrating those who get out into the streets and work for a better world. Now I can’t do that because anyone protesting anything can be targeted for arrest and harassment by our increasingly-fascist police. Instead of celebrating them in photographs,  I would be endangering them. So what can I make, besides photos of grandkids and Buddhist gatherings? I don’t have a pet or a garden. I’m in the middle of a city.

Today I decided to look for palimpsest in street art. I found some, and I enjoyed thinking about the various artists who contribute to this ephemeral art form, their different aesthetics, their different styles, and the ways those styles, stacked on each other, create aggregate art that isn’t what any one of them had in mind.

Now that I’ve made a few photos, I see the limitations of my 35mm lens. Maybe a wide-angle lens would be better. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll do more of this. Maybe not. I've added a couple of extras. One shows the influence of Banksy. The other is sort of like a collage.