Nate Larson

The combination of residents in a city come together to give each city a distinct identity. I view graffiti as an offshoot of this, manifesting itself as an unsanctioned voice among the multitude. I began photographing as a means of understanding this relationship between sanctioned and unsanctioned expression.

I photographed abstractions, cropping and editing the parts of the graffiti to make the visual form active compositionally. While photographing, I became aware that by doing so, I was separating the voice from its surroundings, and removing it from the context that created it. I returned my life size black and white photographic prints to the scene, and reinstalled them over the original markings. Visiting them daily, I began to observe the relationship of the photographic print to the real surroundings and the deterioration of my fascimile in the environment. Each print was removed by unknown persons after a period of time ranging from two weeks to one month.

Nate Larson

nl@natelarson.com
www.natelarson.com