utopia

Beck reflects on his photos: “They have been tearing down posters in Paris for as long as they have been putting them up. These above and underground “affiches déchirées” speak to and  pull me towards them due to a seemingly unintentional collision between art and commerce," he continues, "a poster is a form of advertisement, but what does a torn poster say to a viewer: is there some hidden message? Is it a work of vandalism? Or something else? Originally I would take a photo and then tear off a corner of the poster and put it in my pocket. I wanted to bring a “souvenir” back home with me. More than anything, I needed to bring a “piece of Paris” back with me. I eventually realized, after a decade of tracking down and taking photos of these torn posters, that a photograph is just as worthy as a souvenir too."