You just made my day! Great pictures (as usual) but also I love the way people are living around this art, as a part of their lives.

I mention the street art I see here in Manila all the time to the staff of the microfinance institution I'm working with for Kiva and they are always so shocked – because they have long stopped noticing it around them. I walked around the other day showing two of them five tags that say “hot dog” around the neighborhood – and they laughed – walking that way to work every day and never noticing it before. Of course they say that every time they see a hot dog now they are going to think of me, which wasn't really my intention…

Maybe it takes an outsider to come in and see things new – maybe it takes snapping out of the routine and looking around you. That's what I love about street art, it blends in and is only noticed by few for its value as a form of art and not just graffiti.

It seems as co-nomads-in-crime – our routine is no routine at all. And so seeing what is hidden to others is now normal and like a leaky faucet, we just can't turn it off.

Keep on keepin' on :)
Sloane

The area has a history as a venue for political demonstrations, currently populated by artists, full of cafes, music shops, street music performances, a popular spot for protests and marches (I saw two in the four days I walked by there), and an up-and-coming nightspot for the young and hip crowd.

But most people eating, lounging and going out in the area probably don't pay much attention to the street art or its meanings. Honestly it's not surprising: most of us “fail to recognize the beauty close to home since we live and breathe it every day”, for the simple reason that to get through life we can't pay attention to everything around us all the time. We develop blind spots, take for granted the people around us every day, forget to appreciate daily life, etc. Even me :)

(And happy I could help … and remember, I take requests seriously…)

One last question: do people live “around this art, as a part of their lives” because they want to or because they have to?

I remember walking through the zocalo in Oaxaca in Mexico in 2007, shortly after the demonstrations after the presidential elections, and a lot of graffiti still littered the square, the cleanup unfinished (admittedly, grafitti, not street art). Unwanted, and being cleaned.

And I spent today wandering around Sofia, amazed at the amount of graffiti (mostly graffiti, but some street art) on every wall, corner, bench, etc. Many of them were dated by the artists, with signatures and dates back to 2005. Do people want it? Or do they just deal with it? Or do they like it? Does it take a street artist like Banksy (notoriety and monetary value) to create street art that governments will actually fight to keep?
Thoughts…

Love the photos – there's such a diverse array of street art. Now of course I'll spend all day dreaming of a Turkey trip thanks to you Taylor. Have fun livin' the dream!

Thank you, and seriously, stop dreaming, start living :)

“do people live “around this art, as a part of their lives” because they want to or because they have to?” Both, although I don't know what the majority think about it. But I believe that some people hate it, while others truly appreciate it.

As for me, I love street art and wouldn't mind living around it. It’s partly what contributes to making a city original and giving it a ‘voice’.

[...] places? Istanbul, Turkey; Sofia, Bulgaria; hiking in the Rila Mountains in Bulgaria; Brasov, Romania; Kyoto, Japan; and of [...]

I am sorry but 90% of that i would not class as street art. i would class it as graffiti. Street art makes you stop and stare in wonder. Graffiti makes you want to get on the nearest bus going out of that town.

One of the beautiful things about art is the variety of opinions about whether it's really “art”. Photography was not accepted as an art form until very recently (some might not it's still not accepted as art). “Modern” art is often derided as not being art”.

Aren't all new forms of art initially questioned as whether they're truly “art”?

Meaning: You're welcome to your opinion. But it's not one I share. And that's ok.

Yes I suppose you can say it is subjective to opinion as to whether a piece is grafetti or art. For me I call art as a piece that shows the artist feelings, emotions, message and effort behind the piece.

When i see a good photograph that moves me, i know the photgrapher has put effort into that piece. Even if he happened to be in the right spot at the right time he has still taken time out to learn the art of photgraphy and ensure he has the right equipment.

I don't see that in the second to last photograph at all. This is why i am terming it as grafetti. Even the artist who did the worried piece has still taken the time to paint a picture of what I am assuming is the Guantamo bay uniform. Behind the picture is what I term as grafetti but he has transformed it for me. Thus taken the time and thought about his audience.

PS – I take on board what you say and therefore will reduce my percentage of what I am classing as grafetti.

The second to last photograph doesn't show great street art, it reports on how people live around the street art in the area. It's a part of their life; the area in this picture is full of cafes, music shops, nightspots, restaurants, etc. But it has a longer history as a area for political demonstrations, which is where much of the street art comes from. There are meanings to the street art that we won't get. It's not just about the image or the art, but the full meaning, and you and I won't get the same meaning as a local who wanders by and knows the full cultural meaning of that street art, of the clashes and protests in the area, how the area has changed over time.

I'll grant you that the second-to-last photograph isn't great, and doesn't show great street art, but it helps add to the other pictures to show more about how the art fits into the cultural and physical environment of the area.

I may not understand the full meaning, but after talking to friends and locals from Istanbul, I know it's meaningful. It's not beautiful in the traditional sense, but there is beauty in meaning. And that's great street art to me.

check http://www.streetartistanbul.com for actions of streetart istanbul initiative, exhibitions 'morphosis' and 'ne yersen o'sun', also http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/b…

check http://www.streetartistanbul.com for actions of streetart istanbul initiative, exhibitions ‘morphosis’ and ‘ne yersen o’sun’, also http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/bringing-istanbuls-street-art-indoors/

[...] Street art from Istanbul, Turkey. Posted January 6th, 2012 in Perspective, Photography, Portugal. Tags: david hoffman, lisboa by [...]