There is a section of downtown Tacoma that is a haven for graffiti artists. My wife and I were wandering around the area on a sleepy Sunday morning when we stumbled across a parking garage that was completely empty except for a painter going to work on the interior. Every wall of the garage was covered in graffiti and deep in the interior was this guy working away on a new piece. I took some pictures of the pieces nearer the entry and then moved closer to where he was working. I watched him paint for a while and then asked if I could film him for a while. He said yes and he became part of a short video that I made about the artists I encountered on the trip. We talked a bit and he told me that the owner of the garage let them paint on the interior of the garage on Sundays when there were no cars around. I asked if I could do a portrait of him and he agreed to stand in front of one of his pieces but he wanted to keep his mask on. He leaned up against the wall and I got the image below. I liked the contrast of the bright colours with his monochromatic clothing and the way that the light filters across the image from the left.

-Russell Berg