Hunting #SpaceInvaders in London: my latest in @VICECanada
Many of you know I’m a huge fan of Invader. I have a whole category dedicated to him on this here blog, of all the times I’ve photographed his work around the world. This goes back yeaaaarrrrrssss. I love a good graff-hunt, and he is the epitome of that. In any case, I sold another essay to VICE in partnership with Travel Nation about hunting ‘Vaders specifically in London using the Flash Invaders app to maximize my huntin’. Read all about it here. All the photography published in the piece is also mine!
I’ve been publishing a lot of pieces lately, so scroll down this blog to read more of my stuff in various publications. And don’t forget to check out the official Christine Estima dot com for more!
2014 was the GIF that kept on GIFing
By the time you read this, I will already be out gallivanting through New York City, Brooklyn and Queens, hunting Space Invaders, Banksys, Hanksys, Swoons, and many more of my favourite street artists. I am here for a month, housesitting in the Upper West Side. I end this year the way I began it: on my own terms, and travelling. I have never been more free.
And I win.
Enjoy some of my greatest goofy 2014 hits, in GIF form!
Rolling my eyes at the Berlin Hauptbahnhof, leaving Germany for the last time.
Dancing on the streets of Bonn.
Warsaw’s Palace of Culture and Science, built by… uh… Stalin.
The best Klezmer band in Brussels right outside my window!
(hit the volume button on the bottom right corner of the vid)
The Berlin eyes have it.
The ghosts in Shoreditch’s windows
Art imitates life imitates art.
Guns in Copenhagen are beating like hearts.
Brick Lane street art goes largely ignored. (It says, “If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.”)
Where’s the Space Invader?
I like to call this one, “Ew, I smell that, was that you?”
I like to call this one, “Oh is that really what you’re wearing? How… brave…”
I like to call this one, “Is that a bee or a fly?”
I like to call this one, “I just had a small stroke.”
How I talk to Cats (part 1), filmed whilst housesitting in London.
How I talk to Cats (part 2), filmed whilst housesitting in Copenhagen
How I talk to Cats (part 3), filmed whilst housesitting in Enkhuizen (the Netherlands)
Now let us go out of 2014 with a bang, just like we did in Paris…
Goodbye 2014. I hope I never see you again.
Matlakas in action
Last week I was walking along in Shoreditch and stumbled across street artist Matlakas erecting a new huge mural on Great Eastern street. It’s gorgeous and haunting and provocative and so well done! Very impressed.
Wuzzat say?
There he is at work.
The Han Solo of Brick Lane
I don’t know who put up this big mural in Brick Lane, but in the immortal words of Han Solo, “Great shot kid! Don’t get cocky.”
Mmmmmm, Harrison Forrrrrrrrrrrd.
#C215 and #Invader pieces in London that are probably old but I just found them
How did I not see this before?!!!
I walk down this area of Shoreditch all the time! SORRY C215!
Check out my C215 category for more of his work I’ve photographed around the world.
Now this Space Invader is clearly old as it’s chipping away. The fact that I missed this consistently is THE MOST EMBARRASSING because it’s on Curtain Road RIGHT NEXT TO THE CAFE FIX 126 which I go to ALL THE FUCKING TIME. Literally, I am a regular at Fix 126 and I have a loyalty card and everything. So clearly, I have been walking by this Invader for YEARS and never noticed it. WHAT THE HELL, CHRISTINE.
See those people sitting on the benches next to the sandwich board? yeah, that’s Fix 126.
I really should hang my head in shame.
Check out my Space Invader category for all of his pieces that I’ve photographed around the world.
Borondo’s 12 Apostles
The other day, I’m wandering up Shoreditch High Street and I see this Borondo piece that appears to me made by scratching away at the paint already on the window. So I photograph the snot outta it, and I step to the side to Instagram it , and then this massive tour group shows up and gets all up in my grill. It’s clearly a street art tour group and the tour leader is telling them that it’s only a few days old and it depicts Jesus and the 12 Apostles, and Jesus’ face is the one that’s scratched out, and he’s holding his heart… and then the tour leader qualifies all this by saying he’s not sure.
I can’t believe people pay money for a street art tour! Dudes! ALL YOU NEED IS GOOGLE, GOOD WALKING SHOES AND A CAMERA! Every time I’ve been a tourist in a city, I’ve always found the best street art on my own. Why pay for something that IS FREE AND DEMOCRATIC?
Suckers abound, I s’pose.
Anyway, I’ve photographed Borondo before, and I heard FROM THE INTERNET WHICH IS FREE that he’s currently putting up a new mural in London, so I’ll endeavour to find that promptly.
The Heart of Jimmy C
Jimmy C aka James Cochrane, I’ve been photographing his stuff around the world for years… New York, Paris, London. He always produces really captivating work that is also a tour-de-force in detail, attention, style, and commitment. Gotta love an artist who doesn’t just tag and run. His dot-matrix style of street art takes TIME.
Check out my James Cochrane category for more of his work that I’ve photographed.
“Shot through the heart” or “Cupid’s Arrow” or “Loving in one direction”
I guess this could have many different titles…. ugh, “one direction.” VOMIT. Anyway, how wonderful is this? Found it on Holywell Lane next to the Village Underground
Silence is a source of great strength
Found this on Redchurch street in Shoreditch 🙂 I’ve tried to find some information on the artist, LAQ, but coming up empty. Any tips? I need to contact this artist because THEY SPELLED STRENGTH WRONG. For a writer like me, this is so frustrating, hahahah!
I mean, c’mon dude! It’s T-H, not H-T!
Funny Construction Sign
I love it when people vandalize signs in order to improve them. Case in point, this construction sign I found outside Liverpool Street Station yesterday.
Ha ha ha! It’s just a sticker of an arm, but wow… flawlessly executed.
Our Sons, Our Ghost Signs
In my last ghost signs post, I promised to find more.
BEHOLD!
This one is great, an advert for Our Sons Menswear on Electric Lane in Brixton, which is now where the Brixton market is. Of course the shop isn’t there anymore, and I have never heard of the brands they’re advertising here, but I love that the advert has survived on those gorgeous bricks!
LOL at the “inspection invited” bit at the bottom.
And the pointy finger! IT’S THE BEST PART!
I betcha that building in the foreground wasn’t there 100 years ago. It now obstructs the view of the sign, partially. Back then, the sign would have been in clear view of everyone. I love how the alley is now pretty much empty and abandoned, but this advert reminds us that once these areas were bustling with life and shops and people… now forgotten except for their remnants.
Brixton Space Invader
This Space Invader is actually quite large, the tiles are massive bathroom tiles, and this has been in this location for quite some time… those ‘Vaders are DURABLE! Brixton is slowly revealing itself as quite a good street art location 🙂
Check out my Space Invader category for more of ‘Vaders that I’ve photographed around the world!
Urban Mural
All of these were erected last year for the Dulwich Festival… still standing, so take a wander around Dulwich in South East London if you’re ever so inclined!
Just like The Triumph of David…
If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament
One of my New York fav’s Olek put this up on Brick Lane for International Women’s Day.
I love yarn-bombing and guerilla knitting!
Brick Lane is a pretty Asian-Indian-Pakistani-Bangladeshi area, so it’s great to have such a strong pro-choice statement amongst people who historically haven’t had access to abortion or women’s rights.
#C215 in Shoreditch
Check out my C215 category for more of his work that I’ve photographed around the world!
The Spadina Monologues 