I am not into imposing regulations. There are many approaches to encouraging Street Art while discouraging random tagging, but it takes a positive mind set by communities to make it happen. Punishment, heavy fines even jail sentences have not been a productive attitude.

Jim Prigoff is a photographer and author who has been documenting murals, graffiti, and street art in the Bay Area and beyond for the past forty years. We took a meta moment to document the documentor.

What first inspired you about street art?
I became interested in documenting murals at the end of the 60’s, early 70’s. I found the public expression through artistic renderings was often political in addressing issues not discussed in the traditional media channels. That was a time of ferment in addressing social concerns. It was a treasure hunt to locate the art, it addressed my photographic interests and it added visual substance to my political views.

What was the first image you took
As I traveled the five boroughs of NYC, I could not help but be confronted by the numerous “tags” that were to be seen everywhere. They were in my face, so to speak. I began to photograph the ones that seemed to repeat themselves over and over as well as the environment in which I found the tagging. Few had good calligraphy.

How have styles changed or stayed the same over the breadth of your career?
Styles have certainly changed over the years, yet it is remarkable how sophisticated the art had become in the late 70’s and 80’s. It was prophetic that a 16 year old Mode 2 character would appear on the cover of Spraycan Art in 1987 and that in 2013 his characters are still on the cutting edge of the art form.

What was your favorite city to shoot in?
I am not into favorites, nor winners and losers despite the fact that the youth culture is definitely into “battles’ and “competition”. Today there is so much excellent art being done in cities all over the world. My major documentation led me to key cities throughout Europe and England as well as continuing documentation in NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, LA and San Diego.

Have you noticed a difference between east and west coast artists.  If so how?
There is definitely a difference in East and West Coast style. Rather than my pointing out the difference, it would be best for those interested to read Graffiti NYC by Eric Felisbret and Graffiti LA by Steve Grody. Steve, in particular, does an excellent job in defining style. Likewise there are dozens of books out of Germany and a new one from Frank Malt on 100 UK Graffiti Writers.

If you could dictate policy towards street art what would be some programs/ regulations you would impose
I am not into imposing regulations. There are many approaches to encouraging Street Art  while discouraging random tagging, but it takes a positive mind set by communities to make it happen. Punishment, heavy fines even jail sentences have not been a productive attitude.

What continues to inspire you
Witnessing the development of an art form that over the last forty years has become the most vital art movement of its time, has been an exciting adventure. Back in 1987 my co-author Henry Chalfant and I urged our publisher, Thames and Hudson in London to get Spraycan Art out because we didn’t know what kind of a market there would be in a year . It was almost impossible then to have the vision to foresee
how all engrossing Graffiti/Street Art would be to millions of young people. I continue to be very interested to see the further developments as writers become older and more creative.

How would you propose to support artists and documentarians so that they can survive financially
Supporting artists and documentarians is probably not something that can be formalized. It happens. Youth that didn’t have a camera and in many cases didn’t travel more than a few blocks from home now have become worldwide travelers, video and magazine producers, gallery owners and photographic talents etc.

Do you draw a line between art and vandalism if so where is that line
The famous headline “IS IT ART OR VANDALISM” should have been buried back in the early eighties. It is OBVIOUSLY ART. Some good, some OK, and some poor. Sixth graders create art and so did Picasso, obviously not at the same artistic level. As to vandalism, that has to do with the eye of the beholder and their values. One might ask the same question of billboards which to my mind are the ugliest graffiti of all, yet are allowed to confront us wherever we may go.

For example, we have all read headlines such as “Graffiti writers destroy $500,000 worth of buildings”. I would maintain that they have destroyed nothing. The building still stands. What they have done is to ascetically altered the appearance of the building, for better or for worse.

What was it like in NY furring the early days, how is it different now
I can’t comment on the level of tagging in NYC today because do not get there as often as I did previously. When I go, I am looking for the major pieces from crews like TAT and artists like HOW/NOSM. But I remember once driving through the 5 boroughs over a weekend and returning to California planning to write an article entitled “Ten Millions Tags and Still Counting.” I suspect tagging has abetted considerably and of course, the train writing is a thing of the past.

Co-author – Spraycan Art
Co-author –Walls of Heritage – Walls of Pride – History of African American Murals
Co-author –  Painting the Towns – Murals of California.

Acclaimed an “Urban Legend” by the Estria Foundation in 2011.
His books are available on Amazon
To purchase his books Books at Amazon