“I took this shot of a pair of friends on a rooftop from the Williamsburg Bridge. It was the first time I had been out shooting after 10 weeks in self-imposed isolation this spring,” says photographer Jaime Rojo. “It pretty much captures the feelings of solitude of the situation.”
December 2020
Photos of 2020: #2 : White Male Running Down the Street
The stunning simplicity of this billboard reverberated for many privileged white people who read it.
Photos of 2020: #3 : Brooklyn’s Own RBG
Brooklyn’s own Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg (March 15, 1933 – September 18, 2020) was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death on September 18, 2020. Her passing this year spawned many a tribute on the street, including this doorway – something she opened for countless people during her career.
Photos of 2020: #4 : The Great Dread
Some of the richest exchanges you will have are with New York’s least-rich people. When Jaime spoke with this gentleman one day, time melted away.
Photos of 2020: #5 : Tones Gets Canned
Tones captures the culture and the comedic part of storytelling that is intrinsically tied to the graffiti game. This piece is a master from many perspectives.
Photos of 2020: #6 : Brooklyn Barber and the Bridge
When the going gets tough – take it out to the streets. We spotted this hairdresser doing business under the Williamsburg Bridge this summer. We hope the business was good.
Merry Christmas 2020 From BSA
You could be forgiven for feeling a little like a Grinch for a part of this Christmas; a global virus and a completely fumbled response to the economic well-being of all Americans has left many without home, food, jobs, healthcare, security on this day in 2020.
But let’s rejoice that we persevered, and we found some reasons to be positive, to be hopeful, and to work together. New York is unbeatable! God Bless NYC!
And we are thankful for you. From your friends at BSA we wish you a very Merry Christmas.
Photos of 2020: #7 : “Come Here”
Street artist Sara Lynne Leo got big this year on New York Streets – or at least her tiny genderless figures did. Hoisted high on these boarded-over businesses in Soho these human sized figures illustrate the difficulty we’re all having with spacial relations.
As an unofficial collaborator, the wise and veteran Stikman shows up to put in his two cents, saying, “Wash your hands.”
Photos of 2020: #8 : “I Can’t Breathe”
On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner died in the New York City borough of Staten Island after Daniel Pantaleo, a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer, put him in a prohibited chokehold while arresting him. (Wikipedia). According to video and people who were there at the time With multiple officers pinning him down, Garner repeated the words “I can’t breathe” 11 times while lying face down on the sidewalk.
This May a white police officer named Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck in Minneapolis for a period reported to be 8 minutes and 46 seconds and many watched around the world the events on video.
Breathing is fundamental to life, yet many black and brown people and their allies fought this year for the actual and metaphorical right in the streets, media, public square, classroom, and boardroom. This hand-sprayed phrase on an empty billboard space was as impactful as any laboriously created mural we saw this year.
Photos of 2020: #9 : Sister, Can You Spare a Face Mask?
New York street artist Jilly Ballistic has been borrowing black and white photos from an earlier era of economic depression to paste on the streets for half a dozen years or so. The effect is nostalgic and sometimes puzzling, as they are often evocative of WWII era air raids and nuclear attacks.
In a year where the world population has become frightened of airborne contagion and the very topic of protective face masks has taken on politically charged emotions, Jilly’s modest dressmakers and librarians engulfed with rubber/glass masks and elephantine hoses are our chums. We now imagine a sort of kinship with these people from another time – a reassuring familiarity across the decades.
Photos of 2020: #10 : “Do You Understand Yet?”
In the midst of country-wide demonstrations for racial equity and against historic and systemic police brutality, especially as it pertains to black and brown people, a massive move to the streets New York by street artists was undeniable..
“The shot of the worker sitting taking a moment’s rest with the Colin Kaepernick poster behind him – I had taken my first round of shots around SOHO and began taking photos of the many boarded up store fronts that had “prepared” for anticipated violence and looting during the Black Lives Matter (BLM) marches.
Photos of 2020: #11 : Biden Dances Across the Graffiti Tags
Looking like Fred Astaire melding tap, ballroom and ballet across the bubble tags on New York walls, here’s the next President of the United States.