I used to be a big fan of urban exploration or urbex. These days in the UK it's becoming harder to find "new" old buildings to explore. They're either locked down tight and inaccessible or knocked down flat to make way for houses that I can't afford.
One of the reasons I visit(ed) abandoned buildings is the copious amounts of excellent graffiti found amongst the dereliction. With no places to go anymore it's becoming rarer to find any decent graffiti.
So with that in mind, we visited Digbeth in Birmingham, home to Peaky Blinders and a disused Custard Factory which unsurprisingly is called the Custard Factory! The area surrounding the factory is littered with plenty of cool and well done graff and this is a post full of what I shot.
Blonde on brickwork
One of the things I forgot to do on this trip is make a note of who painted the artwork to give them the full credit they deserve. Ooops, my bad but this blonde caught my eye!
Moody cow
The light on this trip was flat as a pancake but apparently flat light is nature's softbox. Being flat, I gave in to temptation and boosted saturation and other sliders in Photoshop.
Blurred Lines
These blurred and hooded figures were located at the base of a huge 25 mtr artwork by Dan Kitchener. I'm a big fan of blur and this caught my eye.
Lifesaver
I would have thought a yellow background would be a bad idea to hide the defribulator also in the same shade of yellow!! Remind me please not to have a cardiac arrest in the Custard Factory!
HXD?
This one has got a bit of a voodoo feel to it. The single yellow no parking line and the figure overlooking and showing disapproval all works for me.
Spidey in the car park
As you arrive in Digbeth, the car park is full of NOX canisters and litter. But also this huge piece by JimVision (well that's what it says on the wall!)
I've left the doors in the frame for a sense of scale.
We the people, IV sale
I often see semi politcal commentary on works like this. This is actually probably quite a deep statement and I could wax on all night writing this post trying to deconstruct this statement!
Don't settle for a semi if you prefer a whole
Advertising execs are clearly moonlighting as graffiti artists! It's great when you find a conveniently located puddle to use as a reflection but not so great when the skies are flat as a pancake!
Taylor by Justin Sola
I like a bit of shading in the artworks on the walls.
Flame and teal
I spotted this piece above a pallisade fence and hidden behind a locked gate. It's heavily cropped and saturated. It also reminded me of the colours I use in lightpainting too which is probably why it caught me eye.
About me:
I usually specialise in shooting lightpainting images but occasionally dabble in urbex and artistic model photography. I'm always on the lookout for someone to collaborate with; please don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like to create art.
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