Graffiti vandal turned photographer

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Name
David
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Yes
He's got what it takes to get people to agree to participate. Would you? Have you?

I have ... in places like Hyde Park and the British Museum, places where others are using cameras.

LINK > Harry Finn-Conway < LINK
 
Maybe he can start repaying the people who lost 80 thousand pounds through his actions :(

Did 3 months in prison. walked out into a BA course waiting for him and 10 grand free money...

and they say crime doesn't pay boys and girls :)
 
KIPAX said:
Maybe he can start repaying the people who lost 80 thousand pounds through his actions :(

Did 3 months in prison. walked out into a BA course waiting for him and 10 grand free money...

and they say crime doesn't pay boys and girls :)
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I'm in two minds about this - on the one hand he has (apparently) reformed and now, rather than spending his time causing damage, he has become better educated and has a future as a productive member of society, and (assuming the book sells) will join the ranks of us who pay our taxes and so fund the society we wish to live in.

On the other, there is the question over how much his notoriety was what enabled him to get his place on the course, get people to back him (the £10k was from Kickstarter, so it was individuals contributing, rather than a general handout), etc.
 
My daughter graduated last year with £30k debt, she worked 16 hours a week while studying, how would you feel if someone breaks the law and comes out of jail with a BA free of charge funded by my daughters (and mine) taxes ?
 
I don't think there is much doubt that without the back story there'd be no book and no media coverage. The subject is worth documenting, although I can't tell if it's been done well from the few samples I've seen. I'll not be buying the book though because I'm sick of photographs about ******* London.

The N.W.R.A.
 
Kell said:
So once you're a criminal, you have to be a criminal for life?
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He did a lot of damage. It's not unreasonable to be cynical about him and his supporters.
woof woof said:
From what I've seen I'll sum it up as... a git takes uninteresting pictures of strangers.
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Pretty accurate from what I've seen.
 
Kell said:
So once you're a criminal, you have to be a criminal for life?

Why not applaud his creativity? Why not celebrate something good coming out of something bad?
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I agree 100% as imo everyone deserves a second chance, I was given a second chance and for that I`m so grateful as far to many folk can be judge and jury.
 
Good on him - he served his time and has moved on. I presume he got some education in prison to allow him to apply for uni. And he raised the money himself via Kickstarter, so must have got enough of a following to raise that kind of money. Good stuff.
 
I think you probably right David, I don't have any tattoos but am quite an alternative person, I have a distrust (to some degree) of anyone who wears a shirt and tie or looks official in anyway, If I was on the street and and this guy asked for a photo I wouldn't have an issue with it but would be a little more questioning if it was a guy in a shirt and tie !
 
jimgallaher said:
My daughter graduated last year with £30k debt, she worked 16 hours a week while studying, how would you feel if someone breaks the law and comes out of jail with a BA free of charge funded by my daughters (and mine) taxes ?
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And I had two jobs while at college and worked every weekend, both Saturdays and Sundays. Alongside my college course, I probably worked 20-30 hours a week.

As others have said, I don't particularly like his style, but it's photos like these that will be looked back on in 20-30 years as important simply because they document the everyday.

I can still applaud the effort, even if I don't like the work. And I'd rather he did something like this, than come out of prison and go right back into graffiti. After all, if, as taxpayers, we're paying for his course, is that better or worse than having to pay to clean up his graffiti or paying to keep him locked up?
 
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Kell said:
So once you're a criminal, you have to be a criminal for life?

Why not applaud his creativity? Why not celebrate something good coming out of something bad?
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The do gooders have arrived. You like graffiti Spian is that away> Bye.:wave:
 
jimgallaher said:
My daughter graduated last year with £30k debt, she worked 16 hours a week while studying, how would you feel if someone breaks the law and comes out of jail with a BA free of charge funded by my daughters (and mine) taxes ?
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can you find a source that says he didn't pay for his tuition fees? walking into a ba implies that, but perhaps he was just invited to attend but still had to pay fees; well I say pay fees, I really mean take out a loan for it- which for me I am yet to pay a penny on nearly 10 years on, and since im under the earning threshold and will probably stay there I doubt i will ever pay it off before it gets scrubbed out after 20 years. Depending on what your daughter is doing, and the career prospects that opens up, she may pay nothing, she may pay half, or she may pay it all if she's getting a 40k a year job out of it- does this guy have a 40k a year salary from his university education, do I? no
 
Kell said:
or paying to keep him locked up?
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i recently found out that every court case can run into the thousands, legal fees are billable at 150 p/hr, and guess who pays for it, the taxpayer as most people qualify for legal aid- I was shocked at how freely public money is spent on this, that a court case for say theft can end up costing an order of magnitude more than the value of the item that was stolen
 
Kell said:
So once you're a criminal, you have to be a criminal for life?

Why not applaud his creativity? Why not celebrate something good coming out of something bad?
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accountability either in general or specific as in ££
 
As it's always good to know the facts here are the proven re-offending rates for April to June 2017 (the latest published by the MoJ...
  • Adult offenders: 29.2%
  • Juvenile offenders: 38.4%
  • Adults released from custody: 37.8%
  • Adults released from custody after a sentence of less than 12 months: 64.4%
The source is https://assets.publishing.service.g...ven_reoffending_bulletin_April_to_June_17.pdf

So the current system is clearly not deterring offenders.
 
The worlds gone mad except for they an me, an I aint so sure about ME!
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
Yeah, it would be much better if he continued down the road of crime.
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Er, no.

I can see the appeal in a story of a bad boy done good but it could well irritate the many good boys who don't get the (perhaps) preferential treatment, support and maybe over the top praise that the reformed bad boy gets.

I'm all for realising our dreams and succeeding etc but each of us do have the option of deciding not to be a crim and cause thousands of pounds of damage. No one put a gun to his head and said "Get out there and vandalise." Remember the days of canoeing holidays in Norway for offenders? This case may not be as bad an example as that but I'm just not into heaping too much praise or rewards on people who stop being gits, it's better not to be one in the first place.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
As it's always good to know the facts here are the proven re-offending rates for April to June 2017 (the latest published by the MoJ...
  • Adult offenders: 29.2%
  • Juvenile offenders: 38.4%
  • Adults released from custody: 37.8%
  • Adults released from custody after a sentence of less than 12 months: 64.4%
The source is https://assets.publishing.service.g...ven_reoffending_bulletin_April_to_June_17.pdf

So the current system is clearly not deterring offenders.
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Back in the early 80s it took 3 prison terms for it to knock it in my head, when I came out in 1990 I said then, that is the last time. Then I got in to photography and have been out of trouble since then.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
As it's always good to know the facts here are the proven re-offending rates for April to June 2017 (the latest published by the MoJ...
  • Adult offenders: 29.2%
  • Juvenile offenders: 38.4%
  • Adults released from custody: 37.8%
  • Adults released from custody after a sentence of less than 12 months: 64.4%
The source is https://assets.publishing.service.g...ven_reoffending_bulletin_April_to_June_17.pdf

So the current system is clearly not deterring offenders.
Click to expand...

I'd imagine that much crime isn't victimless and if that's the case it's so sad that so many people seem to see it as acceptable to repeatedly cause suffering to others. I don't know what the answer is. How do we persuade or otherwise stop people from causing suffering and misery to others?
 
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