The Birth of Graffiti

Graffiti is as old as cave paintings. So the title of this book, as author and photographer Naar admits, is not strictly accurate. What he has documented is the beginnings of a form of public expression in New York City that continues, for good or ill, to the present. The photographs printed here are from the late sixties and early seventies. Naar sees the scrawled names and numbers as the voice of the voiceless, an agitation for social change. It's not clear that this is the case but the images in this book do speak to the very human need not to go through life unnoticed. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)