Grafitto surrounding a roadsign — Art is everywhere in Grenada

El Nino Graffiti in Granada Spain

If Al Hambra is the official No. 1 tourist attraction in Granada, the the Street Art Graffiti of El Nino and others is certainly the unofficial leader. It is impossible to miss. On our arrival in Granada, the taxi from the train station to the hotel took us past walls lining major roads entirely covered in the highest quality pieces. All of it, apparently, painted illegally; although many of the works are signed and the most prolific artist is the famous “El Nino de las Pinturas” (“the boy with the pictures”) or “El Nino” for short.

I hope anybody reading this blog post will enjoy the images, and if they subsequently find themselves in Grenada, will seek out these works rather than immediately joining the ranks of the 10s of thousands of others at the Al Hambra.

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Validity of this Post in a Blog on Learning the Art of Photography

Given my definition of what counts as deliberate practice towards my 10,000 hours of learning the art of photography, I am comfortable that simply looking at an appreciating El Nino’s street art is a valid contribution towards my goal. However, when it comes to raising a camera, I am very conscious of the risk of merely photographing somebody else’s art.

Surely, it would be hard to argue that the above are anything other than fine art. I love the waste bin by the violinists elbow; a moment of artistic appreciation brought gently back to earth..

What the Photographer Adds

To have validity in its own right, the photographer has to add something of themself to an image rather than merely creating a photographic record. In my opinion, this includes:

Framing, including how much context, in the form of the surrounding street to include
Controlling the lighting, both in the scene and post-processing
Anything else added to the scene, e.g., people walking past.

Michael Jackson graffito on run-down house wall — This graffito was one the first floor of a dilapidated building (old house) inclusion of the windows with junk on balcony give a clue to the insalubrious nature of the neighborhood.

The following shows how framing decisions can completely change the message of the image.

Man with books in his head being accessed by young child — Two view of the same graffito, different messages.

The inclusion of the angel in the image on the right perhaps add a spiritual dimension of otherworldly oversight.

What the nesting birds add, I’m not quite sure.

Religious or angelic connotation of the passing on of knowledge

On a less profound note, the following just struck me as funny:

Blue boy paddling a boat — On a wall just above a river in central Grenada

Boy painting in the road — At corner of bury road on outskirts of Grenada

The Decision to Include or Exclude People

Giving a sense of scale and location:

Man with stick looking af graffito of girl's face

Removing Obstructions

Whist street names which are attached to the wall are often an integral part of a graffito, lamp-posts and traffic signs in front are an annoyance, and are (again in my opinion) best removed.

Demonic laughing graffito — Rather ironic graffito on wall outside a school gate.

Most of the images on this page have had elements removed that detract from the image as a whole.

Girl with red eye make-up — Further down the same street

Girl looking longingly into the distance — Other side of the school gate.

My Favourite

Man playing the piano — Small graffito, high on a wall, nowhere in particular. Found by accident, as is so often the nicest way.

Click on any on the images in this post to see a higher resolution image on the Flickr site. Then scroll or otherwise access to all the other images in this album.

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