The Artist: TransPhotographed by: Emodern
The photographer who took these shots could tell you where the pictures were taken, but then she’d have to kill you. She’s been sworn to secrecy by the person who discovered the painter of these mind-blowing pieces – some of whose faces you might recognise. There is code of silence – and a code of honour – in the esoteric subculture of graffiti-spotting. Why? Well, for one thing it’s about respect.
Everything was “shaded in a spectrum of grey”; photorealistic – even hyperreal – art emblazoned on the walls of a fenced-off asphalt football pitch, created by an artist armed with spray cans, nothing else. The artist knows his stuff. To get the tiny details seen in the eyes and skin of these characters it takes a real master.
The artist known as Trans does his work in a grim part of London, a council estate probably as lacking in prospects as these faces are in colour. Perhaps the kids can identify with the mugs, and that might help to explain why they haven’t been defaced. Or maybe it’s just that people accept the beauty of real creative expression – no matter where they live. It's been said that the artist has been working on the masked gang bit by bit for over a year, and the fact that it hasn’t been written over seems testament to this code of respect. The locals obviously like this art
