Walk down any street in New York City and at some point you will encounter some form of graffiti. Whether it be artistic in nature or a crude tag spray painted across the facade of an unwilling business, graffiti can be found all over the city. Some might consider this graffiti a lawless act of vandalization with no purpose other than to establish one’s name on a surface of which they have no right to do so. However, I think when one considers the perspectives with which Niebuhr views society and religion, these markings take on a more important meaning, not just for the person who made them, but for society as a whole. Niebuhr considers the vastness of the universe, and how in relation to this vastness, any singular person is rendered as an almost microscopic component of what constitutes the absolute universe. In the acceptance of one’s own ultimate insignificance, it would be easy to turn towards a perspective of apathy and indifference. If a single person is in and of themselves insignificant, then how could their be any purpose in them attempting to better the society around them. Their contributions would be extremely limited, and they would only go towards improving a society that is almost equally small in the vast nature of the universe. Niebuhr asserts that one antidote to this dangerous apathy is the practice of religion. Through religion, one asserts themselves as being an undeniable component of the absolute universe. Through this, a person does not recognize themselves as an insignificant object in comparison to the absolute, but rather an undeniable piece of the absolute. The key to this principle benefit to society is that when each person within a society recognizes themselves as being a piece of the universe just as anyone else, they will recognize that they deserve the same rights and freedom from oppression as any other member of society does. Within the society that has been established within New York City, it is undeniable that citizens range from those who are extremely rich and privileged, to those who are disenfranchised, poor, and often forgotten. And just as any other place where the disenfranchised exist, people feel the undeniable need to feel heard, felt, and recognized.         

Behind the youthful desire to break society’s rules that may motivate many of this city’s graffiti, I think there is a more important meaning. In the picture above, I captured a series of graffiti sprayed upon the storefront gate of a western union on 11th avenue. The graffiti paints no bigger picture, describes no deeper meaning, and delivers no important message. It states only names. Tags that only the graffiti artists themselves may be able to recognize. It is in this simplicity that I believe exists the core of this artform. The graffiti exists merely to convey the message that the artist is here, they exist, and they are a part of this city. Just as Niebuhr claims that through religion one can assert themselves within the absolute universe, through graffiti one asserts themselves an an undeniable piece of New York City. By writing their names and tags throughout the city, graffiti artists are ensuring that New York residents will have no other option than to recognize their existence in one way or another.