Graffiti Confidential

“This is probably my favorite one, because this was my hood over here,” Claw, who used to live just a few blocks away from this intersection, told us, pointing out this paw she created with fellow graffiti writer Miss 17 in the early 2000s. She added that the throw-up (a quick work painted with just a few colors) would take “five minutes tops” to create if the corner weren’t so busy, but “no one sleeps in this neighborhood.” Instead, she said, she and Miss 17 had to spray when no one was looking, making for a 45-minute project. Later, Claw would cruise by on her bicycle, a can of spray paint tucked under one arm, to make covert adjustments.

Photo by Jacquelyn Lewis