Todos contamos, a photo from Bogota, North

Photographer's Note

Bogotá - Todos contamos

In Bogotá I joined a graffiti tour. If you like to know where you can book a graffiti tour guided by street artists or people involved in the urban art scene of Colombias capital, simply google Bogotá graffiti tour and you will find out exactly where and at what time you can meet for the tour.

Twice a day theres a tour led in English. At the end, you pay what you think it was worth and I believe it certainly pays to make such a tour.

Of course you can find lots of street art in La Candelaria by yourself. But it is more interesting to get extra details on the works.

Both pictures I show here are found just outside the historic and touristic center of Bogotá and they have a social and political meaning. I was told that political graffiti in La Candelaria will be removed as quickly as possible. Not intended to be seen by foreign visitors.
The street art on the pictures here can be seen in the district Las Aguas, close to the Parque de Los Periodistas.

As for the main picture:
Apart from the violence committed by the army, paramilitaries and various rebel groups, there is a big social inequality between the inhabitants of Colombia. This is certainly not only the case in this country but actually a problem around the world. We often hear in the news that just about anywhere in the world the rich get richer and the poor even poorer.
The picture here shows that the poor Colombian bears the burden of the rich on his shoulders.

The picture in the workshop Todos contamos (All of us counts) refers to the elections.
Elections may be organised in a country and then that country seems to be democratic but its not always possible for everyone to cast his vote.
People who live in rural areas of Colombia sometimes live too far away from the polling stations.

The outcome of elections doesnt always give an accurate picture of what the whole population wants.

BTW, I'm not specifically talking about the last referendum. My pictures were taken in July, just over two months before the referendum. But also in this case, this is an argument.

alvaraalto, PiotrF, ikeharel, holmertz, Fis2, jhm, danos, macjake, abmdsudi, CLODO, adramad, kordinator, ChrisJ oznaczył to zdjęcie jeko użyteczne

Critiques | Translate

dale54 (17750) 2016-11-01 14:06

paul hello..look at this street art..truly amazing! great for this BG! lovely work...tfs dale

alvaraalto (42804) 2016-11-01 14:47

Dag Paul
Zelfs in de regen lijkt dit me een tour die de moeite waard is. Voor een museum moet je natuurlijk ook betalen dus een vrijwillige bijdrage lijkt me hier wel op zijn plaats.
Het lijkt me wel bijzonder dat deze politieke voorstellingen in de openbare ruimte te zien zijn. Dat zou op het ogenblik in b.v. Turkije niet kunnen.
Groet Rob

carlo62 (81265) 2016-11-01 15:32

Ciao Paul
non so se andrň mai a Bogotŕ, ma č una buona informazione quella delle tua nota sulle guide.
Due foto interessanti, ma questa č senza dubbio la migliore grazie alla presenza della persona con l'ombrello.
Saluti
Carlo

emka (157280) 2016-11-01 16:03

Hello Paul, Very interesting note and the pictures. I have read that also in other places there are tours about graffits and murals, for instance in Philadelphia. And when the artists explains his ideas it must be more interesting, specially when the graffiti have political and social meaning. There are many such graffitis in Buenos Aires. Nice that we can see here someone passing by. The people who do not want or can't vote have the big influence on the result. In Poland only 50,92 proc. went to vote.
There are interesting graffitis in Ghent, even the small street all covered. Have you seen it?

WArm regrad s Malgo

PiotrF (54246) 2016-11-01 17:34

Hello Paul,
very good photo of this interesting graffiti, intermative note.Perfect exposure and good color saturation.
Fine presentation.
Regards
Piot

jemaflor (146280) 2016-11-02 0:10

salut Paul,
Un on effet de superposition avec cette scčne capturée au bon moment avec ce piétons, Joli graffiti bien dessiné, bon effet également avec ces teintes.

holmertz (101988) 2016-11-02 3:08

Hello Paul,
First I have to say that "pay what you feel it's worth" always makes me uneasy. Either I will be looked upon as naive and stupid for paying too much, or they get angry at me for being greedy. Don't I understand that they have a large family to care for?

As for the photos and the note they are all very interesting. The paintings are quite well made and have a message, which can't really be said of every piece of graffiti, and the man with the umbrella fits the tones of the painting quite well.
Kind regards,
Gert

sacimar (38173) 2016-11-02 8:45

Hello Paul,

I didn´t know about these tours, next time I travel to Bogotá I´ll try to book one. Good image and interesting scene with the man walking, the street work is nice also, well done,

Best regards,

Sergio

Tue (91574) 2016-11-02 10:27

Hallo Paul,
De stad moet wel heel veel muurschilderingen te bieden hebben als er zelfs speciale rondleidingen voor zijn. Deze schildering is in ieder geval de moeite waard en heeft bovendien een belangrijke boodschap. Goede timing met dank aan de voorbijganger, wiens donkere kleding en paraplu mooi contrasteren met de kleuren op de muur.
Lars

Fis2 (169731) 2016-11-02 13:53

Witaj Paul!
A very nice view from street.
Interesting scene and graffiti.
Good framing and colors.
Well done.
Good evening.
Krzysztof

ikeharel (112439) 2016-11-02 22:38

Hello Paul,
It was raining, but not so notable on the photo.
The mural is a wide graffiti painting, with vivid-pink colors against the mostly grey backdrop.
Not so clear what the subject - but all graffiti have these notion's.
Have a nice new day,
Ike

rychem (72187) 2016-11-03 0:01

Amazing but very good mural, I like it very much, and the man with umbrella is a very nice bonus
regards Ryszard

danos (110407) 2016-11-03 12:07

Hello Paul,
nice the colourful graffiti on the wall,with the passing by woman to adds life in the scene. Informative your note about the graffiti.

Regards,Danos

macjake (98262) 2016-11-03 15:30

Hi Paul
a graffiti tour, thats different, sounds interesting though.
I would have gone on it, glad you're posting a photo from your experience.

The fact that you know the meaning of the artwork takes the photo to another higher level, it means so much more because of it. very much appreciated. great TE post
cheers
Craig

jhm (211734) 2016-11-04 4:20

Dag Paul,

Nooit van gehoord een rondleiding naar graffiti schilderijen.
De laatste jaren is er grote evolutie gekomen in graffiti, wordt altijd beter en beter, dus dit lijkt ook in dit land.
Mooi gepast passeert een wandelaar met regenscherm wat de foto non eens extra boost geeft.
Mooi foto werk, bedankt.

Groeten uit Oost-Vlaanderen,
John.

Silvio1953 (220605) 2016-11-04 5:48

Ciao Paul, lovely composition with fantastic murale and walking Person under Umbrella, wonderful colors, fine details and splendid clarity, very well done, my friend, have a good week end, ciao Silvio

abmdsudi (95869) 2016-11-04 22:43

Hi Paul
The colours really sing, a thought provoking graffiti conveying certain message and eye popping all blended together to influence passers by. I think the stark striding walker makes this a lot stronger fitting the stage superbly and it's entertaining as well. Credit to the artists and you as well. Excellent snap!!
Congrats
Best wishes

Cricri (176) 2016-11-05 10:40

Bonjour Paul
Trčs beau graffiti , jolies harmonie des couleurs, la personne est plutôt bien placée sur la scčne , un trčs bon travail de l'artiste et une belle présentation que tu nous montre, merci
belle soirée
cricri

CLODO (45116) 2016-11-05 10:42

Bonjour Paul

La peinture murale semble sauter au-dessus du promeneur au parapluie, instant décisif bien saisi
Bon dimanche
CLODO

mkamionka (73374) 2016-11-05 13:59

Hi Paul,
graffiti are always quite interesting to see, they are I suppose more temporary and so we are traveling both in space and in time there.
Interesting subject of the graffiti as well. For people from my country, Poland, western Europe appears as uniformly rich but since I live in the poorest region of the UK I see how the society here is divided. So you are right saying that the inequalities are quite well spread across the world and it feels they get more extreme.
Fascinating reportage from Bogota,
M

adramad (72562) 2016-11-07 7:28

Hello Paul.
Very interesting note, which helps us to understand the political and social meaning of this graffiti undoubtedly the tourist tour is very interesting, because once you explain the meaning of the painting, you can appreciate it better.
Very nice colorful in tones, very attractive.
Good management brightness and superb sharpness.
Very well done. My congratulations.
All the best and have a good start to the week.
Luis.

kordinator (8738) 2016-11-07 12:09

Dear Paul
Street art in Bogota with beautiful graffiti, is a festival for the eyes.
I love graffiti if they are flavored.
An interesting and very informative text.
Excellent composition in the main photo, or the latter from the workshop was also excellent and with more pronounced colors.
Excellent photo work.
Kind regards
Saa

ChrisJ (171222) 2016-11-09 19:03

Dag Paul

Good street art here and nice to capture a passing person to add scale. Good color and saturation. I found some quite good street art in Timisoara. Nice to see what Bogota offers. Tfs!

BennyV (34742) 2016-12-07 9:48

Dag Paul

Een oudere post van je die me pas nu opvalt. Zo'n tour is op z'n minst een leuk alibi om de stad te leren kennen. De titel geeft een mooie boodschap van hoop aan (al is het soms tegen beter weten in). Twee mooie foto's, ik twijfel welke ik de beste vind.

Benny

jmdias (114278) 2016-12-11 23:43

paul

while in bogotá a saw many small graffities playing with irony about icons of modern world, like guevara with ears of mickey mouse for example.
very nice this sample where the grey mood of the environment is broken by the pinty drawings. perfect inclusion of the personage.

hugs

jorge