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Often the tags or drawings were removed the next day, so the photographs were the only record of these artistic efforts. The authors of this book often printed their images quickly to share with the graffiti artists, who did not have cameras in that decade to record the mark they left on their city,
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Two photographers in New York City had been separately documenting the artwork seen on the subway cars for 10 years, through the 1970s and into the 1980s. Each planned to put out a book and neither could find a publisher. They agreed to work together on one book to increase the chance of finding a
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The book was known as 'the bible' of graffiti, because the photographs of this ephemeral art were accompanied by text describing techniques of the drawing styles and how it was done on public property without permission.
172:
The book described the culture around graffiti, how to do it, the lingo and who did it. Copper and
Chalfont consider this as public art, a major global art movement, and do not consider it as vandalism.
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The 25th anniversary edition was released in 2009, with new and larger photographs included, and printed in a larger format than the first book, measuring 43x30.5 cm. It was published by
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on a subway car. The police worked with the transit authority to stop this practice, even if the artists considered themselves as risking their lives to leave their mark.
152:
They did not find one in the US mainly because graffiti was viewed as vandalism, not as art. Removal of graffiti was a problem for public agencies. The two went to the
205:
This was done without permission of the transit authority and considered as vandalism in the time the two were taking pictures of the art on passing trains.
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quickly acquired the dubious accolade of becoming one of the most stolen books in the United
Kingdom, and marked the start of graffiti on London rail cars.
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These photographs were taken in an era of decline of the condition of the subway system in New York City, before
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movement. Originally published in 1984, the book has been described as a "landmark photographic history".
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was brought in to lead a turnaround in 1984, including daily cleaning of rail cars.
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408:"Graffiti Cleanup A Shiny Symbol Of Subway System's Turnaround"
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439:"Bomb Alert: Graffiti Writing and Urban Space in London"
21:
For general information about art in public areas, see
156:, where they found their publisher, the art publisher
291:"Graffiti of New York's Past, Revived and Remade"
213:The book featured the artists by name, including
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136:, which documents the early history of the
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380:"Amtrak's President Is Fired by Its Board"
241:The book was first published in London by
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18:Book about New York City Subway graffiti
332:BBC News World Service: Witness History
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248:The first US edition was published by
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748:Hong Kong (Free Ai Weiwei campaign)
289:Kennedy, Randy (October 26, 2010).
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443:The British Journal of Criminology
378:Wald, Matthew (November 9, 2005).
14:
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437:Kindynis, Theo (April 6, 2018).
328:"Subway Art: The graffiti bible"
198:The title is a reference to the
1052:Collaborative non-fiction books
406:Lentz, Phillip (May 18, 1989).
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326:Pintus, Matt (July 1, 2024).
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960:. You can help Knowledge by
858:Sarajevo Street Art Festival
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252:in New York, also in 1984.
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128:is a collaborative book by
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817:Palestine (West Bank Wall)
742:São Paulo (Beco do Batman)
250:Holt, Rinehart and Winston
245:. It sold 500,000 copies.
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1012:Graffiti in New York City
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256:25th Anniversary edition
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863:Sarasota Chalk Festival
853:Pasadena Chalk Festival
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138:New York City graffiti
956:related article is a
802:Sydney (Newtown area)
734:Southeastern Brazil (
1042:Books of photographs
931:Category: Street art
728:Berlin (Berlin Wall)
200:New York City Subway
243:Thames & Hudson
237:Publication history
160:, based in London.
158:Thames & Hudson
154:Frankfurt Book Fair
78:Thames & Hudson
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456:10.1093/bjc/azx040
385:The New York Times
357:Museum of Graffiti
296:The New York Times
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879:Built environment
838:The Cans Festival
418:on March 12, 2016
264:in San Francisco
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625:Stencil graffiti
615:Reverse graffiti
552:Installation art
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414:. Archived from
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522:Culture jamming
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449:(3): 511–528.
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899:Street party
889:Public space
843:Living Walls
778:Philadelphia
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645:Yarn bombing
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420:. Retrieved
416:the original
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353:"Subway Art"
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909:Visual arts
848:See No Evil
787:Balmy Alley
630:Sticker art
536:terminology
149:publisher.
144:Development
68:Photography
29:Subway Art
1001:Categories
884:Public art
833:Beton Fest
650:Wheatpaste
573:Subway Art
557:Propaganda
498:Street art
276:References
188:Subway Art
125:Subway Art
23:Public art
914:Vandalism
763:Melbourne
732:Brazil (
655:Wildstyle
640:Throw ups
542:Handstyle
302:April 13,
231:Lady Pink
74:Publisher
954:graffiti
797:Sarajevo
772:5 Pointz
736:pichação
718:Adelaide
676:Graffiti
532:Graffiti
512:Activism
164:Contents
48:Language
872:Related
812:Toronto
723:Atlanta
681:Stencil
635:Tagging
505:Culture
422:July 1,
391:July 1,
363:July 1,
359:. Miami
337:July 1,
56:Subject
51:English
929:
826:Events
807:Tehran
711:Places
671:Street
610:Poster
605:Pieces
268:
229:, and
215:Zephyr
34:Author
952:This
600:Mural
583:Types
227:Dondi
223:Kase2
194:Title
102:Pages
64:Genre
958:stub
753:Kyiv
424:2024
393:2024
365:2024
339:2024
304:2015
266:ISBN
219:Seen
132:and
111:ISBN
89:1984
451:doi
105:100
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445:.
441:.
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312:^
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25:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.