Every time I’m in Europe, I enjoy taking pictures of political stickers and graffiti left on street furniture after major protests. This year, I was expecting tons of witty slogans and puns following the months-long demonstrations against the labour code reform. But… nada. Well, almost nothing. I showed up too late. Not all windows that were smashed during the protests were replaced but the city was cleaned up and offending stickers and graffiti were presumably removed.
Et merde!
I still need my hit of urban art, so I turned to signs, close-ups of these objects we see but barely register and yes, the few graffiti I did find.
It’s amazing how much these urban objects can tell about a culture. So today, no people… just ubiquitous and unsung pieces of the French urban landscape.
Coffee cup reflection at the train station
Nantes sign in French and Breton language
“It’s ridiculous!” tag on a city sign explaining the ongoing construction work at Commerce
“Are you happy?” graffiti
Two red, one green light in the middle
“Smile, you’re alive” graffiti
Fancy doors
“Stop and end”
French flag reflection
“National security alert system in effect” (Plan Vigipirate)
“The only solution: a revolution”
Amazingly, this company has been in business since… 1748
Funny art
“State and police: fucking die!”
Naked woman, bas-relief on a bridge
Sign in Saint-Michel along the main national road, “forbidden to horses”
In my case, every time I traveled outside Jakarta by road, I like to snap graffities behind/on its side Dump Trucks. It’s very entertaining and creative that you have to guess what message they are trying to deliver.
For instance, once I read
“See book the mee is 3” which means “Sibuk demi Istri” or “busy (looking for money) for the wive” =))
sibuk = busy
istri = wife
1. Pergi karena tugas, pulang karena cinta
(the truck drives) go because (he is) on duty, (the drives) go home because of love
because = karena
awss, so sweet
2 anak cukup, 2 istri bangkrut
two kids are enough, two wives (the driver will be) broke.
“two kids are enough” was a famous birth-control slogan during Soharto, the second president era.
Back at that time, it was a very common thing to see Indonesian couple had 5-7 children!
while most of truck drivers are famous for having another wife since they always been away from home, traveled to other province/city. this practice somehow, still common thing for low-income society.
3. Berat-nya rinduku tak se-berat muatanku
(how much) I miss you as not as heavy as my (truck) load.
berat=heavy
sort of saying the drivers miss their partner very much, but he has a lot of load on his truck to deliver.
At least the shop put a sign on their door. One evening I was going to meet up with a friend for dinner in downtown. When I was in front of the restaurant, it has no sign on whether they had gone for holiday or they were still in business. I waited until 19h30, and decided that they were closed, don’t know for how long. And I checked out several restaurants around, most of them didn’t have any sign but they were closed. I was surprised, I expect restaurants or shops to inform their customers when were they closed or opened. They didn’t leave a voice message neither when we called.
In my case, every time I traveled outside Jakarta by road, I like to snap graffities behind/on its side Dump Trucks. It’s very entertaining and creative that you have to guess what message they are trying to deliver.
For instance, once I read
“See book the mee is 3” which means “Sibuk demi Istri” or “busy (looking for money) for the wive” =))
sibuk = busy
istri = wife
Oh, I would love that! Anything that makes me pause and consider the message carefully.
here for the example. I’ll translate the first three.
https://hello-pet.com/foto-lucu-tulisan-belakang-bak-truk-nan-kocak-1722608
1. Pergi karena tugas, pulang karena cinta
(the truck drives) go because (he is) on duty, (the drives) go home because of love
because = karena
awss, so sweet
2 anak cukup, 2 istri bangkrut
two kids are enough, two wives (the driver will be) broke.
“two kids are enough” was a famous birth-control slogan during Soharto, the second president era.
Back at that time, it was a very common thing to see Indonesian couple had 5-7 children!
while most of truck drivers are famous for having another wife since they always been away from home, traveled to other province/city. this practice somehow, still common thing for low-income society.
3. Berat-nya rinduku tak se-berat muatanku
(how much) I miss you as not as heavy as my (truck) load.
berat=heavy
sort of saying the drivers miss their partner very much, but he has a lot of load on his truck to deliver.
I love it! Honestly, it makes me want to learn the language. The third one is so cute too!
Merci pour ce voyage en France 🙂 Les panneaux m ont fait sourire 🙂
Contente de t’avoir livré un p’tit morceau de l’hexagone!
At least the shop put a sign on their door. One evening I was going to meet up with a friend for dinner in downtown. When I was in front of the restaurant, it has no sign on whether they had gone for holiday or they were still in business. I waited until 19h30, and decided that they were closed, don’t know for how long. And I checked out several restaurants around, most of them didn’t have any sign but they were closed. I was surprised, I expect restaurants or shops to inform their customers when were they closed or opened. They didn’t leave a voice message neither when we called.
I hear you, it drives me crazy! I also hate it when shopkeepers put signs with the opening hour… but the store is still closed for no reason.
Nice photographs!
Thank you!