This is the first of a two-part Fotolog special on street art. Read part 2 here.

Whether it’s done in protest, to mark territory, or simply to express; whether it’s evaluated as art, as vandalism or as politics—street art is visceral and contemporary, connecting with the intellect of your mind and gut. Wherever you are, whatever language you speak.

You feel it, you “get” it, and you start to think about the people and environment that made it and are reflected in it.

That’s the power of the street. Not violence or grit but simple connections across a teeming mass of human minds and urban lives.

London

Istanbul

San Francisco

By Jia Jia, Joy, River and Stephanie