I've been meaning for the longest time to get some pics of the amazing street art around where I live in the arts district in downtown LA.

Finally this past weekend I got around to taking a half decent set of pictures. If you're an art nerd you'll recognize some of the artists, there's a D*Face in there and a couple of Shepard Fairey pieces. If you recognize any works, lemme know.

I'll post a more detailed set when I get time to do the sheer amount of artwork contained in this relatively small area of Los Angeles justice, but for now enjoy these.

Having read endless commentary on what deviantART users think of Shepard Fairey having used Mannie Garcia's photo to create his now iconic Hope poster, I thought some might find it interesting to read what the photographer himself had to say about it.

The following is an excerpt from a New York Times article I read this afternoon.

Mr. Garcia said he was unsure how he would proceed now that the matter had landed in court. But he said he was very happy when he found out that his photo was the source of the poster image and that he still is.

“I don’t condone people taking things, just because they can, off the Internet,” Mr. Garcia said. “But in this case I think it’s a very unique situation.”

He added, “If you put all the legal stuff away, I’m so proud of the photograph and that Fairey did what he did artistically with it, and the effect it’s had.”

With free worldwide shipping going on in the Prints Shop, it just feels like the right thing to do.

Anyone from Japan please get in touch with me and I shall ship you one.

If you follow the #hq blog you already know this.

Free economy shipping on all prints, anywhere on the planet, with no minimum order, for 5 days starting on Friday.

Want to know what they are?

You'd already know if you were in the #printscommunity group.

Tom