Those who’ve been following me for a while probably already know this about me: a personal great passion, developed fairly recently, is street art for sure. In the past, I’ve even worked on street projects and exhibitions collaborating also with other street artists in Rome, blending their art with my street photography. I’ve bought books, collected pieces, and spent a lot of time studying street art in depth.
The biggest risk in street art world, in my opinion, is an endless ego trip: you need to have your name or work plastered on every wall in every city. That’s definitely not for me, let’s make it clear. What I’ve also noticed is how often the major street artists, like Banksy, Shepard Fairey (Obey) or Space Invader, are imitated. Sometimes blatantly.
King of street, my identity on the street
Anyway, the point of that blog post is that I love everything that’s deeply connected to the street, like street photography and street art of course but also sports (recently I fell in love with street basketball for example). By the way the point is that few months ago I also decided to come up with a kind of personal logo and leave my mark in the streets by putting up customized stickers.
The original idea was to create a design from scratch, so I started looking for inspiration online and sketching it out with a pen. But my lack of drawing skills quickly became obvious. To avoid getting stuck in an endless loop of wasting precious times and energies, I turned to AI, and the results were incredible. Sure intuit way I killed the artistic process, reducing it to a purely mental exercise. But that’s okay for me. My goal is simply to reconnect my street photography to street art through this sort of signature I’m leaving behind in the form of stickers.
Why a skull with film and crown?
The design is still evolving, and I’m aiming to simplify the final logo more and more over time. lessi is more. Why this particular symbol? I’ve always had a thing for skulls: they represent memento mori, a paradoxical reminder of life itself and the importance of not wasting our times on this earth. Listen to Pink Floyd’s song Time to understand better what I want to say. Death is, unfortunately, a constant thought for me, that’s probably a side effect of my profession, since I am a doctor.
Aesthetically, I’ve always loved the skull. The bandage made of photographic film is a reference( or better a personal tribute), to a passion that bloomed just over a year ago: analog photography. I couldn’t leave out a nod to what’s been the most powerful innovation in my street photography in recent years. It’s something that reignited both passion and curiosity. Finally, the crown is deeply inspired by the Basquiat’s one. It’s both an homage to the legendary street artist and a symbol I love for both its look and meaning. The acronym “KOS” ( in medieval style characters) means King of Street, obviously a title I’ve given myself. I’m the first not to believe it, but that’s exactly why it gives me strength. And that’s good enough for me.
As I’m writing this article, my sticker has already made its way to several neighborhoods in Rome (where I obviously take photos), a seaside town (Sperlonga), and a place in Tuscany that means a lot to me (Montepulciano, in the Val d’Orcia).
That’s all folks
Stay well, have always light in your life
Best, F.S.
Here is the link to my personal best pictures: street photography gallery
Read more about street photography, art, cinema
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