You've probably noticed, from some of the banner photos I use at the top of this page, that I like street art. Most of the time I have no idea who did the work. It's just there when I walk past. I like it. So out comes my cheap digital camera and, snap.
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| Peter Drew and 'friend' |
I've discovered some of the story behind the big, B&W mugshots that popped up around the city in mid 2011. It's a Street Art project, by Peter Drew, of 1920s criminal mug shots from Adelaide, Australia.
For anyone in the neighborhood, here's a map, with a list of names of those depicted in the photos. Take a wander around town and check them out, before they're all gone. (Click on the blue pins and the name of the outlaw will light up at the side, together with a link to a photo of the original police register these photos were taken from.)
Peter Drew is a visual artist based in Adelaide. He creates work for the gallery
as well as street art, and writes for the
Adelaide Review. Peter
was born and educated in Adelaide. He has been
practicing as a visual artist since 2006. Some of his work
can be found in Berlin, Glasgow, London and Adelaide.
The following video, "Adelaide's Forgotten Outlaws," commemorates the night the photos went up. It was made by Ronnie Chin, Frazer Dempsey and Peter Drew. Reminded me of the first time someone pointed a gun at me. He was a security guard I startled one night in Sydney, when I was putting up posters advertising a Kohoutek (that was a band, named after the comet) concert at Omnibus (corner of Glebe Point Road and Broadway) in Glebe, in 1973. That's all gone, now, like some of these posters.
1 comment:
I found it strange to be listening to an American song while I watched Aussies put up posters of Australian criminals.
Thanks for this post, Henry. Every work day I walk past pictures of a thin sad looking woman who was convicted of attempted suicide in 1921. I was wondering about the genesis of these pictures, they're great.
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