Graffiti Wall, New York
c. 1965
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 20.1 × 30 cm (7 15/16 × 11 13/16 in.) sheet: 27.94 × 35.56 cm (11 × 14 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund
Accession Number
2020.71.2
Art Historical Context
Louis Draper's "Graffiti Wall, New York," created around 1965, is a gelatin silver print that captures the textured, layered surfaces of urban markings in mid-century New York City. The black-and-white medium allows Draper to emphasize tonal contrasts and the tactile quality of the wall, transforming an everyday street scene into a study of form and light. As a photograph measuring roughly 20 by 30 centimeters, it exemplifies the intimate scale often favored in documentary work of the period. Draper, associated with the Kamoinge Workshop of African American photographers, frequently turned hi...