This is a shot looking along the laneway off Queen St West known as "Graffiti Alley" where I took the shots of the graffiti & murals this week. Toronto has a large graffiti culture and this is probably the epicentre of it all with even tours being conducted along here. The lane backs a very old long commercial strip of small businesses and stores and has become the site of an ever-changing display of graffiti despite the efforts of many politicians. I am not a fan of mindless tagging but do enjoy the murals and have to admit that looking down a lane like this is usually a real treat and an adventure for me. Funny how I would go down such a lane here but sure wouldn't go down one in another city that looked like this! Familiarity I guess!
21 comments:
Cool angle. interesting area. Happy friday! =)
That one on the left looks new. I find it interesting to see how regularly they change.
I agree with you RedPat, I don't like the non artistic graffiti, but this place is full of personality.
If you feel ok walking through that laneway, I'm sure I would too. ;-)
Where does Rick Mercer film his Rants? The graffiti in those alleys seems to change with each rant. I've suspected for a while that the CBC was actually hiring graffiti artists to paint those locations.
We don't get a lot of either here - the tagging or the murals, though I wouldn't mind the latter.
Wayne - This is where Rick Mercer films his rants. it is probably about 1 km long and totally covered with graffiti so it could look different by just moving along another 20 ft.
You've braver than I am. I wouldn't go down that alley on a bet, day or night! But, like you say, familiarity breeds nonchalance...is that what you said? ;-)
So many tags in Toronto! Are they all done under cover of darkness or do you occasionally come across the taggers in daylight?
Looks like a fun place to explore. I couldn't agree more about tags vs murals, you have captured some fun ones this past week.
CBSnews,com had a story on Cairo graffiti and it caused me to think about what it will look like 50 years from now.
Wonderful!
I photographed some today too but it won't be up for a few days. Nice finds.
I don't like tagging either, but some of the spray paint murals are nice. I will have to look for this street.
This looks like it could be filled with adventure. I'd take a walk.
It appears you've found the graffiti epicenter!
I was at Queen & Ossington yesterday and had a field day looking at all the graffiti - loved it all!
It is interesting how we can feel quite brave in our own city or town but hesitant in an unknown place.
The red one looks like it was made yesterday.
Looks like it would be an interesting trip down this laneway Pat. I always think as long as you can see the light of day at the end of the tunnel it's probably OK to explore (in the daylight that is!)
Toronto and Melbourne share many common characteristics, pat, which is something that struck when I visited there some years ago...
The wet ground adds so much to the lane shot.
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