A Man of Will

The man turns and I am immediately struck by his eyes.  He has a heavy, prominent brow covered with grey flecked eyebrows.  His eyes appear to stare out at me from deep within his head and deep in that tunnel there is a fire burning there.  He lashes out, not yelling, but his voice has a hard steel edge that cuts through all of the noise that the city uses to try and keep us down.  He moves towards me, occupying my space, a thin line of spittle forming on his lips.  This is not a man who lays down while others roll over him, and even thought the years have softened his impact this is a man who will not be ignored… a man of will.

I was wandering around Gastown in Vancouver and walked past an alley that had this graffiti painted on it.  I loved the fact that the man who seemed to be angry was lying in shadow.  That and the earth tone colours provided an interesting contrast with the celebratory, exploding colours on the the left.

-Russell Berg

Artist Without Residence

My daughter and I were driving through Victoria when this very striking graffiti caught my eye. EOS 7D, EFS 17-85mm f 4-5.6 at 85mm, f/9, 1/60, ISO 640

We really were in a bit of a hurry as we drove down Douglas street but the flash of colour in the corner of my eye drew all of my attention and I quickly changed lanes and turned off of Douglas.  On two buildings graffiti artists had sprayed an amazing set of paintings that cried out to be photographed.  The painting is so vivid and crisp that it is hard to tell that you are looking at three different buildings here.  I stopped down to f 9 to keep the foreground building on the left in focus and took the shot.  The very sinister looking angel who is hiding behind the oil tank is very compelling and the fact that it is all a tribute to “mom” made me smile.

-Russell Berg