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©2001, 2003 @149st Do not republish without permission.  Why did
you start to photograph subway graffiti? I was shooting a series
of photos on unsupervised children's play. The pictures included
things the kids had made such as go carts, stilts, airplanes,
forts, and pigeon cages. One day a young writer, HE3, asked,
"Why don't you take pictures of graffiti?" He showed me his
notebook full of HE3 sketches and a wall he had painted. When I
realized that he was designing his graffiti, I was hooked!  For
many professional photographers, commitment to documenting
graffiti was short term. Was there a particular aspect of the
culture or the artwork itself that prompted your enduring
commitment? I have degrees in art and anthropology. Subway
graffiti perfectly combined both of these interests. The art was
very photogenic to say the least and it seemed that not many
people were paying attention. The difficulty of capturing the
elusive trains on film added to