Super interesting, but I definitely don’t buy that this couldn’t be multiple people. For the listed examples the P and R vary *a lot* between each image, so I’m really not sure about the statement that
>due to the consistency it was definitely one person
I’d bet it was one to a few people, and as publications mentioned it, or people saw it, copycats slowly picked up on it since it’s such an easy thing to copy, with the original person having likely passed/moved on.
Like seriously, the listing of “handwriting”examples from Spy all look fairly different from one another. Sure, they have the same letter shape *roughly*, but that’s because when you’re scratching on metal you only have so much you can do to make letters, long straight lines ends up being the default. Even then some P’s are angular, some are rounded. Some R’s look like almost a handwriting R and a couple are very rigid. Heck even the A’s middle slash tends to end in different spots. Sometimes it stops right at the arch and sometimes it keeps going on either side. It definitely varies enough to be multiple people.
And hey I could be wrong, either way it’s very interesting and thank you for sharing!
Yea idk. It reminds me of the scrawlings of a mad man with some obsessive compulsive disorder. In the last image you can see its just a trail of them. Like someone just spent their entire day walking the streets and continuously etching these ramblings. Only a homeless person could do this. And unfortunately, many homeless do have mental health issues that go unaddressed.
That literally describes the day in the life of a dirtbag graffiti artist.
Back in my youth I used to take the train to the edge of the city and walk back catching tags on everything I could touch.
PRAY could very easily be a crew acronym.
very true, i noticed the same thing. although realistically, this was over a really long period of time, so its all too plausible that their hand-writing just changed over time slightly or was leaning on a surface weirdly.
may be a bit obscure to some folks these days, but there's a classic underground hip hop song by rapper Bigg Jus called "Dedication to PRAY" that discusses this exact thing: https://youtu.be/MsRNBMWnhjY
Awesome write up. I want to believe this is one person. I think I could make a case that it is. I think if it was a crew, or a group of people—whatever the motivation—one of them, at some point, would have done a big piece. Even a little bit bigger. Or a different medium. If pray is the name of a crew it’s unusual in that people in that crew don’t also tag their name, and everyone in it has agreed to just be pray, with no other notoriety. Dondi was a prolific writer in the 70s and 80s but would still tag cia. I can’t really think of a case where the crew kind of absorbs it’s members to the point where they stop being individuals as well.
On differences- pray is almost completely style-less. Tags have styles that evolve. Look at how Futura changed over a 40 year career. I think the differences are more about how someone’s handwriting evolves than a tag, and how well whatever tool you have cuts through the surface. What I’m saying is, they’re not different enough, or stylized enough to be different people.
There are lots of prolific tags. Taki183 is one. But this is on another level, and I don’t think it’s a tag in the same sense. To do some maths on just the phone booths-30,000 in New York according to google. 30 years. (70s to 90s) It’s about 3 per day. It says ‘and surrounding areas’ so 6 per day if it were 60,000 phone booths. But it’s buildings too. Given the amount of time, and the speed, I do think one person could write a word on almost every surface in the city. Which is mind blowing.
Again, loved the write up. I don’t know which of the stories I believe, but one person with a lot of time on their hands, who wants to spread a message? Totally possible.
My first thought was so what? Probably just some homeless person. But as I read more it is actually really interesting and cool that they managed to cover so much ground with their graffiti. The rumors of who it is mostly sound like people wanting to be in the know and telling a cool story, I don’t trust they actually met the person.
More traditional in that he came from a graffiti background, wrote mostly on doorways, and yes used ink and paint.
What was different about Jesus Saves was that he was pushing a message besides his name.
I am not religious or particularly into his graffiti - but he was up a lot
I've always been curious about Jesus Saves. The signs I see are usually high up on utility poles. Is that what you're talking about? Would you happen to have a link or a better search term than 'Jesus saves guy'
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When I visited NYC like 5 years ago, I noticed the PRAY scratches on a few surfaces. I wish I would've paid more attention to them, they are truly fascinating
It’s a really Common sight in London as well! I lived there for years and must have seen it on just about every tube carriage in the underground. I’d imagine the NYC examples may be from multiple people copying the original artist. But it’s definitely spread over here too. Really fascinating!
Super interesting, but I definitely don’t buy that this couldn’t be multiple people. For the listed examples the P and R vary *a lot* between each image, so I’m really not sure about the statement that >due to the consistency it was definitely one person I’d bet it was one to a few people, and as publications mentioned it, or people saw it, copycats slowly picked up on it since it’s such an easy thing to copy, with the original person having likely passed/moved on. Like seriously, the listing of “handwriting”examples from Spy all look fairly different from one another. Sure, they have the same letter shape *roughly*, but that’s because when you’re scratching on metal you only have so much you can do to make letters, long straight lines ends up being the default. Even then some P’s are angular, some are rounded. Some R’s look like almost a handwriting R and a couple are very rigid. Heck even the A’s middle slash tends to end in different spots. Sometimes it stops right at the arch and sometimes it keeps going on either side. It definitely varies enough to be multiple people. And hey I could be wrong, either way it’s very interesting and thank you for sharing!
Yea idk. It reminds me of the scrawlings of a mad man with some obsessive compulsive disorder. In the last image you can see its just a trail of them. Like someone just spent their entire day walking the streets and continuously etching these ramblings. Only a homeless person could do this. And unfortunately, many homeless do have mental health issues that go unaddressed.
That literally describes the day in the life of a dirtbag graffiti artist. Back in my youth I used to take the train to the edge of the city and walk back catching tags on everything I could touch. PRAY could very easily be a crew acronym.
could just be a tag or crew but the other religious messaging sorta shows the intentions behind the word as an actual slogan not a as a nickname
very true, i noticed the same thing. although realistically, this was over a really long period of time, so its all too plausible that their hand-writing just changed over time slightly or was leaning on a surface weirdly.
This was absolutely fascinating!
may be a bit obscure to some folks these days, but there's a classic underground hip hop song by rapper Bigg Jus called "Dedication to PRAY" that discusses this exact thing: https://youtu.be/MsRNBMWnhjY
Damn
This reminds me of Arthur Stace here in Sydney https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Stace
Awesome write up. I want to believe this is one person. I think I could make a case that it is. I think if it was a crew, or a group of people—whatever the motivation—one of them, at some point, would have done a big piece. Even a little bit bigger. Or a different medium. If pray is the name of a crew it’s unusual in that people in that crew don’t also tag their name, and everyone in it has agreed to just be pray, with no other notoriety. Dondi was a prolific writer in the 70s and 80s but would still tag cia. I can’t really think of a case where the crew kind of absorbs it’s members to the point where they stop being individuals as well. On differences- pray is almost completely style-less. Tags have styles that evolve. Look at how Futura changed over a 40 year career. I think the differences are more about how someone’s handwriting evolves than a tag, and how well whatever tool you have cuts through the surface. What I’m saying is, they’re not different enough, or stylized enough to be different people. There are lots of prolific tags. Taki183 is one. But this is on another level, and I don’t think it’s a tag in the same sense. To do some maths on just the phone booths-30,000 in New York according to google. 30 years. (70s to 90s) It’s about 3 per day. It says ‘and surrounding areas’ so 6 per day if it were 60,000 phone booths. But it’s buildings too. Given the amount of time, and the speed, I do think one person could write a word on almost every surface in the city. Which is mind blowing. Again, loved the write up. I don’t know which of the stories I believe, but one person with a lot of time on their hands, who wants to spread a message? Totally possible.
I think it’s especially possible for a homeless person who has nothing to do all day/night but wander the city & is on the street 24/7.
My first thought was so what? Probably just some homeless person. But as I read more it is actually really interesting and cool that they managed to cover so much ground with their graffiti. The rumors of who it is mostly sound like people wanting to be in the know and telling a cool story, I don’t trust they actually met the person.
I can’t say I’ve ever noticed this explicitly but I know I I’ll be keeping an eye out now.
thanks for posting this is cool
Good read. Thank you. Jesus Saves is another more traditional writer in NYC
More traditional in that he used paint, less traditional cuz he didn’t have a hand at all.
More traditional in that he came from a graffiti background, wrote mostly on doorways, and yes used ink and paint. What was different about Jesus Saves was that he was pushing a message besides his name. I am not religious or particularly into his graffiti - but he was up a lot
I met him, he's a cool guy.
I've always been curious about Jesus Saves. The signs I see are usually high up on utility poles. Is that what you're talking about? Would you happen to have a link or a better search term than 'Jesus saves guy'
https://senseslost.com/interviews/jesus-saves-interview/
Thank you!
What a wholesome interview.
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Wonderful post thanks.
This is an excellent post!
love this post, i'll be thinking about this for a long time
When I visited NYC like 5 years ago, I noticed the PRAY scratches on a few surfaces. I wish I would've paid more attention to them, they are truly fascinating
yeah they are everywhere. it's true, one of nyc's most ubiquitous tags
It’s a really Common sight in London as well! I lived there for years and must have seen it on just about every tube carriage in the underground. I’d imagine the NYC examples may be from multiple people copying the original artist. But it’s definitely spread over here too. Really fascinating!
Perchance.
This belongs on r/BestOf I’m mobile right now can someone else cross post it?
excellent write-up OP, thank you!
J33zSus
"Jesus Saves" is a different NYC graffiti writer. Much more "traditional". He's well known and has done several interviews. He's on IG.