Steve Grody has dedicated his life to his passions. He’s an accomplished swing dance teacher. He’s a self defense instructor. And in the last twenty-eight years, he’s taken tens of thousands of photographs of graffiti in his hometown of Los Angeles. This is a conversation about the decades he’s spent wandering alleyways, climbing under bridges and through tunnels,  documenting this ephemeral art.

This program is produced by Bianca Giaever. She’s a writer, filmmaker, artist and radio producer, and recently I heard a story she made with Jay Allison that was sublime. It’s called Two Years with Franz, about the Pulitzer-winning poet Franz Wright. It’s beautiful and I highly recommend it. Her college film, the Scared is scared was named Web Video of the Year by USA Today but more importantly, it’s awesome.

More about Steve

You can see Steve Grody’s photos in his book,  Graffiti L.A., Street Styles and Art, and he has curated and contributed to graffiti art shows at MOCA LA and the Pasadena Museum of California Art.

Steve Grody’s blog

Ted Talk with Steve

Music

A Day At The Racetrack, by the musician Julian Lynch

Additional music by Zubin Hensler and Jacob Blumberg