Boone Avenue Walls 2026: A Weekend of Graffiti, Culture & Community in the Bronx

Aug 23

There are certain events I look forward to every year, and Boone Avenue Walls is easily one of them.

For me, it has become one of my favorite graffiti events in New York City. There is something special about being in the Bronx, surrounded by writers, crews, artists, photographers, music, and people who genuinely appreciate the culture.

This year’s Boone Avenue Walls took place August 22–23, bringing artists from around the world together to paint throughout the South Bronx. There were plenty of incredible pieces going up all weekend, with artists putting in work from morning through the afternoon.

But this year, I did things a little differently.

This Year, I Decided to Relax

Last year, I spent a lot more time driving around the Bronx trying to see as many walls and productions as possible. I wanted to photograph everything. If there was a new piece going up somewhere, I wanted to be there.

This year, I decided to slow down.

Instead of spending the entire weekend driving from wall to wall, I spent more time hanging out, taking pictures when something caught my eye, talking with people, and just enjoying the atmosphere.

Sometimes you don't need to chase every single piece.

Sometimes it's nice to just chill and take it all in.

And honestly, that's exactly what I needed this year.

Watching the Crews Put in Work

One of my favorite parts of Boone Avenue Walls is seeing the crews come together for the larger productions.

These aren't just individual pieces being painted next to each other. Crews put together massive, themed productions where multiple writers contribute to one larger concept.

Watching those walls come together is something you really have to see in person.

You can see the planning, teamwork, different styles, and individual personalities coming together to create something much bigger than one person's piece.

Much respect to TVT, FX Crew, and Bronx Team for the work they put in.

And this year, I wanted to go a little deeper than simply photographing the finished walls.

I wanted to hear directly from some of the writers about what goes into their work, what motivates them, and what being part of a crew means to them.

So I asked six members of TVT one question each during Boone Avenue Walls.

Six Writers, Six Questions: A TVT Q&A

TVT has become one of the crews I particularly enjoy watching at Boone Avenue Walls. Over the past three years, they've created some memorable productions, including Ghost Rider, Goosebumps, and this year's Bayou.

Those productions made me curious about what happens behind the scenes.

Dray: The Outdoing Comes Naturally

I asked Dray:

“The past three years TVT has participated in the Boone Avenue event, and your crew has come up with some awesome productions: Ghost Rider, Goosebumps, and now Bayou. Do you get excited at the idea of outdoing yourselves each year?”

What stood out to me wasn't simply his answer about trying to top the previous year. Dray talked about something that seems even more important to the crew: getting everyone together.

He explained that Boone is a guaranteed reunion because getting everyone together throughout the year can be difficult. With so many talented artists in TVT, he said that whatever the theme is, the entire wall eventually comes together.

And when it comes to trying to outdo themselves, his answer was simple:

“The outdoing comes naturally.”

The reason?

The writers are constantly painting throughout the year. By the time Boone Avenue comes around, they've already grown as artists compared with the previous year.

CIR: Challenging Inspiration

I asked CIR:

“What do you think your crew brings out of you as an artist that you might not get painting alone?”

His answer centered around what he called “challenging inspiration.”

For CIR, being part of a crew means having people around him who push him to go above and beyond, not only for himself but for the team as a whole.

But he also made an interesting point: that mentality shouldn't disappear when you're painting alone.

You should still carry your team with you.

He described the ideal crew as being made up of close friends who you consider family.

That idea came up repeatedly in these conversations: a crew isn't simply a group of people who paint together. It's a group of people who push each other and represent something bigger than themselves.

SAET: Learning From Everyone

I asked SAET:

“Who’s one writer from your crew and one writer outside of your crew whose style you really enjoy, and who pushes you to step your game up when you’re painting?”

It turned out to be a harder question than I expected.

SAET didn't want to single out just one person.

He explained that everyone he paints with has a different style, and each person pushes him to work harder in a different way. The same goes for writers outside of TVT.

He enjoys so many different styles that rather than being motivated by one particular person, he tries to learn from and be inspired by all of them.

That's something I found interesting about graffiti culture.

In a scene filled with individual styles and personalities, inspiration doesn't necessarily come from one place.

Sometimes it's everywhere.

AWOL: Conquer Your Vision

AWOL gave me one of the more detailed answers of the group.

I asked:

“How would you describe your style? And how much of your work is planned beforehand versus figuring it out once you're in front of the wall?”

AWOL explained that while some people label his work as “funk,” he doesn't necessarily define his own style that way.

Instead, he considers himself a student of many different styles and places a lot of value on understanding graffiti's history.

He talked about the way New York style has influenced scenes around the country and the world, with writers taking those influences, making them their own, and eventually throwing them back.

That's something he tries to do himself.

He also explained that having different styles in his toolbox allows him to adapt to different situations.

For Boone Avenue, he did more preparation than usual. He normally doesn't bring a sketch, but this time he wrote notes for each letter and collected references of rusted metal, junkyards, and discarded machinery.

Even with that preparation, he intentionally left room for improvisation.

That balance between preparation and spontaneity is part of what makes painting interesting for him.

And then he gave me a line that perfectly sums up his competitive approach to painting:

“Conquer your vision or be conquered.”

ENT: Painting in Front of a Crowd

I asked ENT:

“I know you hit a lot of freights, so what's it like painting in front of this many people compared with painting somewhere more low-key?”

His answer was pretty straightforward.

He doesn't really mind painting in front of people because he's used to it, although he admitted that he can still get nervous depending on the environment.

The difference is that low-key spots are more relaxed.

You don't have to be as “on point.”

That was an interesting perspective because it highlights something people watching from the outside might not think about.

Even an experienced writer can feel a different kind of pressure when there are people standing around watching the process.

Zesto: Passing the Torch

Finally, I asked Zesto:

“Now that you're a father, has becoming a parent changed the way you approach painting or think about your art? And does having a child motivate you to be a better person and artist?”

His answer was probably the most personal of the six.

Zesto explained that fatherhood has changed his relationship with art. Between his career and family, graffiti has taken a back seat, so he now appreciates those smaller windows of time when he can escape for a few hours and paint with friends.

In fact, Boone Avenue was the first time he had painted all year.

But fatherhood hasn't simply made him a “better person,” in his words. Instead, it has refined who he already was.

He's more conscious of how he moves through the world because he's responsible for another person and doesn't want his son to see him doing anything out of line.

Then he talked about something that happened at Boone that really stuck with him.

Two kids approached him with black books.

That's when he realized that he's now in a position to pass the torch.

As his son grows, he looks forward to sharing colors, drawing, painting, and whatever other forms of creativity interest him.

And I think that moment says a lot about what events like Boone Avenue Walls can mean.

It's not only about the writers who are painting today.

It's also about the people watching them who might pick up a marker or paintbrush tomorrow.

Photographing the Writers

Of course, I couldn't show up to Boone Avenue Walls without bringing my camera.

This year I spent more time photographing the writers actually doing their thing. There's something completely different about photographing graffiti compared to simply photographing the finished wall.

You get the movement.

The spray cans.

The paint going onto the wall.

The concentration on the writer's face.

The little details that you don't necessarily notice once the finished piece is complete.

Those moments are what I really enjoy capturing.

And it's one of the reasons I keep coming back to Boone Avenue.

I'm not just interested in the finished artwork. I want to document the process and the people behind it.

For this year's event, I was shooting with my Canon R6 Mark II and RF 28-70mm F2 L USM. The 28-70mm gave me enough flexibility to capture both the writers working and the larger scenes around them without constantly switching lenses.

It's Not Just Spray Paint

Something else that stood out to me this year was the variety of ways the artists were creating their work.

When you think about graffiti, the first thing that probably comes to mind is a spray can.

But Boone Avenue reminded me that it's much more than that.

There were artists working with buckets and rollers, using different tools and techniques to bring their productions to life.

Seeing those different approaches is part of what makes photographing an event like this so interesting.

The tools may change, but the goal is the same: take a blank wall and turn it into something that wasn't there before.

Why Boone Avenue Walls Is Still My Favorite

I've photographed a lot of events, but Boone Avenue Walls continues to stand out to me.

Maybe it's because of the location. Maybe it's because of the history of graffiti and hip-hop in the Bronx. Or maybe it's simply the feeling you get walking around and seeing so many different artists putting their creativity on display.

It's one of those events where I can show up with my camera and never really know what I'm going to photograph.

One wall might have a huge production.

Another might have an artist working on a portrait.

Someone else might be adding their name to a piece.

And around all of it, there's music, people hanging out, photographers documenting the weekend, and artists from different places connecting through the same culture.

That's what makes Boone Avenue Walls special to me.

Looking Back at Last Year

If you want to see what Boone Avenue Walls looked like from my perspective last year, I also put together a video recap on my YouTube channel.

Last year I spent much more time driving around and exploring different locations, trying to capture as much of the event as possible.

This year was different.

I slowed down.

I took fewer drives.

I spent more time in one place.

And I enjoyed myself.

Both approaches have their advantages, but sometimes it's good to put the camera down for a little while and simply appreciate what's happening around you.

Although I didn't photograph as much of the Bronx as I did last year, there was still no shortage of amazing art to see.

And that's the beauty of Boone Avenue Walls.

Every year, the walls change.

The artists change.

The productions change.

But the energy remains.

And after talking with six members of TVT this year, I think I understand a little more about why these walls continue to be so special.

It's the art, but it's also the people.

It's the crews.

It's the friendships.

It's the competition.

It's the history.