Graffiti Bridge
Graffiti Bridge 2010 - (image by Brian L Butler)
The 17th Avenue train trestle. A.K.A. ‘Graffiti Bridge’. A landmark where local youths and not so youths are allowed to express their inner Pollock. It’s a Pensacola tradition and the police seem to look the other way as long as the graffiti is confined to the bridge. Some of them probably tagged the bridge themselves when they were younger.
When I took my first photo of the bridge, I complained a bit in that post (Graffiti Bridge at Night 2006) about the quality of the graffiti on the bridge. I basically said it was just a bunch of quick hit-and-run tags with little artistic merit. No Banksy around here I pretentiously proclaimed.
I have since decided I was wrong in that post. It’s not about the quality of the individual tags. The beauty of this landmark graffiti target is that it’s constantly moving and changing and becoming something new all the time. It’s alive and it grows on you. When people first see it, they tend to see an eyesore. It’s only after you live with it for a while and it becomes part of you and part of your town that you appreciate it. That’s pretty cool.
The first image is from a couple of nights ago. A few weeks ago the entire bridge was painted pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month and you can still see some pink showing through. The next image is what you see when you stand on top of the bridge and look down. The 2006 image was my first night photo of the bridge and the one I personalize for people. The last image is from 2008 when the bridge was completely covered by some Florida Gator fans.
From Graffiti Bridge - (image bt Brian L Butler)
Graffiti Bridge 2006 - (image by Brian L Butler)
Graffiti Bridge Gators - (image by Brian L Butler)
The last one was painted by my sister! Cool, never thought anyone took a picture of it : )
Actually the image from 2008 at the bottom was done by students who just graduated from Escambia High School.
First! tagging (hit-n-run) is the platform for graffiti….. “ya gotta have a base line before you can make the music!”… I grew up here locally and through my travels i’ve picked up some… but it is now time I “put-up”!!
im glad you find now its art with every twist of time!!!