Street art in San Cristobal

30 Mar Street art in San Cristobal

Once I got past the outlandish, vivid colors of all the buildings in this mountain town, I began to notice there was a lot of graffiti on the walls. And there are a lot of walls! No front lawns to be mowed in SC – every home here is faced with a wall on the street and a private courtyard behind the wall on the other side. Occasionally we would see an open door or garage door and loved peeking in to see what was hidden on the other side! Enchanting!

So, if you were the type of person who wanted to make a statement (Banksy – inspired) you would have lots of open “canvas” space here. According to our guide James, graffiti was at its peak about ten years ago, and in later years the street artists have turned to stencils. Not surprising after the huge influence Banksy and his admirers have attracted around the world. My photographic vision had now narrowed from doors, windows and graffiti and began focusing on stencils. Most of the ones I documented were of a political nature, but some of them appeared to be whimsical, or advertising an event.