A photographer documents memento murals in Philadelphia
By: Kara Fitzpatrick
Behind a cracked sidewalk and patches of overgrown weeds on a North Philadelphia street, an homage to "June Bug" is plastered obtrusively on the side of a brick building. The graffiti image of a larger-than-life young man, whose blue cap reveals he was a Penn State fan, reads: "June Bug. Gone but not forgotten."
For the past two years, Hillsborough Township photographer Thomas Sullivan has made it his mission to document these memento murals most enshrining young men who likely met a violent death that loom along the city’s streets. Some of the 40 images that he has captured so far are featured in the Arts Council of Princeton’s latest exhibit, "Before Their Time."
"Some of them were absolutely astonishing, they would take up the whole side of someone’s house," Mr. Sullivan said, explaining that he spent mornings driving around the city’s northern neighborhoods in search of the tributes. Motivation to uncover these atypical testaments began as Mr. Sullivan was engaged in a photography project using graffiti as his subject.
"I happened to see a wall in Philadelphia that I at first thought was graffiti," he recalled. But it was a memorial. "I was really puzzled by it and thought it was the only one of its kind," he noted.
As he continued to scour the city, he encountered dozens of these tributes all created between 1991 and 1996.
While the murals are not traditionally inscribed with the cause of death, Mr. Sullivan said he assumes most of them are gang-related. "I think it was a period of gang wars in Philadelphia," he said.
Memento murals, Mr. Sullivan explained, were usually created by professional airbrush artists commissioned by the victim’s family. They commonly feature an enlarged depiction of the person being commemorated and are sometimes garnished with icons religious symbols, cars and scenic images.
"There are all kinds of icons, I assume some are gang-related," he said.
The images vary in style, too some are branded with straightforward cursive writing, others with brilliantly colored graffiti-style text. Akin to a gravestone, they regularly offer the birth and death date of the memorialized.
"I believe they are very heartfelt, I get a really genuine sense," he said.
While the memorials honor a medley of people, the bulk of the images captured by Mr. Sullivan commemorate the lives of young, Hispanic men and not all of the deaths are necessarily gang-related. For example, Mr. Sullivan’s favorite painting is a tribute to Thelma, a 76-year-old grandmother portrayed in her choir robe.
Thelma was the only woman Mr. Sullivan found featured in a memento mural. Georgie who according to his tribute was 11 years old when he died is the youngest subject the photographer uncovered.
Unlike standard graffiti creations, this artwork is sacrosanct even to those who never knew the deceased. "So much of the graffiti in the city, you’ll see people write over no matter how good it is," Mr. Sullivan said. "These walls are left untouched. No one has written over any of them.
"You can fill in the blank there, but I would suspect there would be quite a price to pay if you did," he added.
Generally, Mr. Sullivan learned, people use a side of their home as a canvas to pay homage, but he also captured illustrations on the side of warehouses and bodegas. Regardless of what they look like or where they are displayed, "they are treated with respect in the community," he said.
Mr. Sullivan has yet to uncover these expressions in New Jersey he has researched Elizabeth and Newark but in two weeks he plans to comb Lower Manhattan, where he has been told similar epitaphs exist. After that, his hunt could lead him to Los Angeles, he said.
While some may find this unconventional ritual odd, Mr. Sullivan understands why one would choose this kind of observance.
"Where’s the best place to remember someone? It’s where they live," he said. "That individual must have meant a lot to the people who contributed to having the wall done."
"Before Their Time" will be on display through June 17 at the conTEMPORARY Arts Center gallery, located in the Princeton Shopping Center. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. For more information, visit www.artscouncilofprinceton.org or call (609) 924-8777.

