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2 The following pages contain graffiti found on the walls of an underground tunnel in Southern California. Having grown up in Southern California I rarely, if ever, bothered to pay much attention to graffiti. Generally it was something I prefered to ignore since so much of it tends to be messy, ugly scribbling left behind by wanna-be taggers and gangbangers. In my former employment as an on-site, residential apartment manager in Van Nuys, CA., a regular, and daily, part of my job included removing the destructive and unsightly scrawls left behind the night before by those who displayed little to no regard for the property of others. In a nutshell, it pissed me off. I was fortunate because in the end my tenacity, and refusal to allow this intrusion to remain, paid off. The local vandals got tired of seeing their handiwork disappear and they stopped hitting my building. Other, less determined, apartment managers were not so lucky, and their buildings ended up looking worn, dirty and unsavory. My building, however, thrived! It was an oasis in the urban desert of Van Nuys. I don t know when my curiosity became piqued and my attitude changed, but suddenly I began to take more notice and to look closer at these blotches of color almost jumping off the walls at me and slapping me in the face. My once offended eyes became less narrow, and within the riot of colors I saw real beauty and talent. I always expect to see street art when driving around the city. It is a normal part of the urban landscape. However, while on a hike in a wilderness area it is always a jarring surprise to find it in the most unexpected places, such as what I am presenting in this booklet. The following pages contain vibrant, colorful and artistic graffiti found on the inside of an underground tunnel that was created as a wildlife corridor, allowing bears, mountain lions, coyotes and other critters of the forest, to cross from one section of the area to another safely, without crossing roads or highways. The sad part is that most, if not all, of these very talented and creative artists will probably never be known for the beauty and life they have given these gray concrete walls. Hopefully, this little publication will give them some of the acknowledgment and admiration they so richly deserve. Cindy Nunn 2015 ISBN-13: ISBN-10: X

3 About the author / photographer Cindy is a native of Southern California, who has also lived in Arizona and Newcastle upon Tyne, England, finally returning to her hometown in California in She is co-owner of C&T Publications, and an editorial director of Eye On Fine Art Photography and REVOLUTIONS magazines, along with Tom Anderson. Although she has had a life-long interest in photography, with experience in darkroom film development since the age of 15 due to being raised in the traditional printing industry, fine art photography is a fairly new endeavor for her. Refusing to be tied down by one specialty area, she prefers to let her mood and location determine her inspirations. She is also the published author of two books on the historic living ghost town of Randsburg, one of which is a photographic coffee table book. You will find that some of the images in this booklet have been filtered and/or digitally enhanced. This was not done because there was something lacking in the original piece, but because the photographer enjoys trying new and edgy looks to make a piece standout and pop with color and texture. The images in this booklet, and many others, are also available for sale on the author s/photographer s website, and can be purchased as prints, cards, cell phone cases, pillows and bed coverings. See ad on inside back cover.

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