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| Photo by David Cooper / Toronto Star |
I saw some of these portraits up near Eglinton and Oakwood:
Toronto Star: Changing the world, one giant portrait at a time
"When French photographer and street artist JR heard he had won the $100,000 TED prize and a wish to change the world, he was totally floored.
He hadn't applied for the award. He hadn't even heard of it until he was notified that he'd won. Someone else had nominated him."
"Prior to the award, JR had earned an international reputation amongst both street artists and art critics. In his short career, the 28-year-old had made an impression with his portraits of the suburban "thugs" of Paris, Israelis and Palestinians in eight Palestinian and Israeli cities; and women in the slums of Africa and the favelas of Brazil."
Respect. And in other news:
CityNews: Coun. Vaughan says graffiti worse since Ford's crackdown
"Six months after Rob Ford donned a grey sweatshirt, a pair of safety goggles and aimed a power washer at a spray-painted wall, one city councillor claims unwanted graffiti has gotten worse in his ward."
"Spray painting has been taken to new heights—literally—since the crackdown call was issued, Vaughan said. Vandals are painting their tags higher up on buildings to avoid removal, making it harder and more expensive for property owners and businesses to clean off their exteriors."
" 'It's provoked almost a daredevil attitude amongst the graffiti guys, the taggers in particular,' Vaughan said."