(Note: clicking on images should display a larger version) Graffiti. Sometimes it’s just a signature – a tag. Sometimes it’s a message. And sometimes, it’s art. Graffiti on a train Sad thing is…I can’t tell the difference…at least not always. Why do we post symbols in public places? What does a bird mean? Without proper cultural context… ...can we ever know the original intent of the symbol maker? I stumbled upon my first pictograph on a kayak/camping trip in 2008. It’s amazing that these painted images persist. Is it a message? An advertisement? An icon? ...a warning? Since then I’ve read some Oregon Archeological Society publications (primarily by Keyser) and learned of vision quests, shamans, ghost cults and power drawings. Plus, on the historical context side of the story, I’ve learned that these kinds of painted rock images are the product of a once dominant society that was being decimate...
a photographer's take on ART, SCIENCE & THEOLOGY in the Pacific Northwest