Graffiti At Main and Hastings: A Photo Essay

The pavement is scattered with reminders of the neighbourhood’s hardships. Spray paint art in fun colours juxtaposes.

Textures and colour blocking are used across a bubble font declaring “MULE.” On a grey day in a grey alley, the graffiti feels exciting.

Less colourful than the alley preceding it, this laneway still boasts a pink neon sign with a matching t-shirt hanging from an electrical pole.

Tags are layered over one another, while others peek through a blue cloud.

A rare wall with unique lattice is clear of graffiti. Patches of granite brick peek through the roadway, reminding of times past.

Away from the busy sidewalks of hawkers selling odds and ends, you’ll find the graffiti does the talking instead.

A trifecta of graffiti in turquoise, green and indigo. The top tag has remained undisturbed long enough to become mottled with moss.

Behind the weary buildings of the Vancouver Downtown Eastside is a world of colour.