Paint the Town in Rio

*** Side Note: I've been a very bad blogger and have gone MIA for over a week. Shame on me! I've been working on this little event called the Gala, and the Biggs offices have been transformed into Gala Headquarters until May 16th. Come party and raise money with us!

As for this blog, I came across an article in Marie Claire the other day about an undercover photographer who goes by the name JR. He's French, part activist and part artist and transforms his photographs into large scale posters and pastes them on city walls to create photo galleries in the streets. This is my kind of graffiti. His photos are breathtaking and meaningful, and by transforming urban ghettos her gets his point across.

JR is traveling the globe currently and working on his project, Women Are Heroes. He has traveled to Africa, Brazil, Sudan, and Kenya and soon to India and Asia to take photos of women and highlight their struggles and the violence around them. At the same time his photos acknowledge their strength and value to their communities. Every visit he makes, he blows up his photos to be an enormous sized poster to be hung in a highly public space for everyone to see.

JR is brave for going on this artistic adventure. One phrase that comes to mind is, "in your face!" How can you ignore a photograph of a woman you may have passed by on the street and not feel anguish over the violence and corruption in the community. Visual representation can rule all at times, and JR has hit it right on the wall.