Graffiti Over Photo

Shoot it properly first. The tag only lands if the picture underneath is clean.

Make the mark once. Spray real paint on a real print and let it run, because a brush preset with a symmetrical drip is obvious at full size and the whole idea is that somebody actually did this. One colour, one gesture, straight across the subject rather than politely around it. Keep the photograph beneath sharp and well made: the contrast between the two is the style.

Director's note

Leave with every frame on this list.

Shot list

1. 01A studio portrait on seamless paper with one orange tag sprayed across the chest, still dripping
2. 02A product shot lit like a catalogue, defaced with a single green mark
3. 03A pasted poster on a wall, tagged wet and photographed before it dries
4. 04A macro on one drip running down gloss paint over a matte print
5. 05A model holding a tagged print of their own portrait

Light the photograph properly first: even studio light, one clean shadow, catalogue standard. Then light the paint so the wet edge and the drip read. A small hard source at an angle is enough to separate gloss from matte.

Light

Scout these before anything else.

Locations

1. 01A studio with a seamless backdrop
2. 02A wall where prints can be pasted and sprayed
3. 03A print shop or paste-up yard
4. 04A bare room with the print pinned flat

Plain and current: a hoodie, a tee, a tracksuit, one silhouette in one colour. The garment is the surface the tag interrupts, so keep prints and logos off it.

Wardrobe