Happenings on Film: Graffiti Contest for Expo 2015

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On the last Saturday of July, the old district of Borgo Vico hosted an art and music festival. There was also a graffiti contest, and the winner will exhibit his work at the Como Business Center for Expo 2015. I used my Zorki 4 loaded with an Ilford FP4+ film to document the event. I focused on the young artists who, amid the swirl of activity, had to concentrate on their large-scale pieces.

Credits: sirio174

All the paintings were made on huge wooden panels with some backcloth to protect the walls. The contestants had to draw by spray-painting, without the use of paper silhouettes.

Credits: sirio174

This event was scheduled for Saturday, July 18, but because of a bureaucratic problem (missing the municipal’s permission to use the parking spaces) it was postponed. Thanks to this inconvenience I was able to attend the event, as I was on vacation the previous week.

Credits: sirio174

At first I was undecided whether to shoot in color or in black and white. I could have captured the bright and vivid colors of the paintings, but I would have introduced elements of distraction (the colors of the artist’s shirts, of the pavement, and of the walls). In the end I chose black and white. I could concentrate more on the artists’ gestures.

Credits: sirio174

This sequence below shows a painter who made a portrait of a young model. Twenty minutes passed between the first and the last photo.

Credits: sirio174

The event continued until midnight with a rap concert and a DJ set.

written by sirio174 on 2015-07-31 #lifestyle #festival #graffiti #expo #italy #como #borgovico

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