Exeter Car Park: Graffiti Haven or Renovation Threat?

In the Exeter Cathedral and Quay car park the upper floors have been closed to cars for some time. They are still accessible to pedestrians from the staircases and from the footpaths that skirt the top open air floors (the car park is set into the side of a hill). These empty floors and the stairwells have become a haven for graffiti artists; just about every surface is covered. There is also graffiti on the outside walls.

Exeter Car Park: the Graffiti Haven

The deserted floors are also a habitat for people looking for somewhere out of the way for whatever clandestine purpose they have in mind. So some caution is needed though I have never had any trouble. But I wouldn’t go there alone at night. And in the darker corners the floor is noticeably sticky and smells accordingly. I am usually with someone else.

It’s a great photo location; however because it is mostly devoid of people, it is a little less interesting than it would be if you had your own model in tow, suitably attired. You would need to think carefully about lighting your model as there is very little useful ambient light in the darker reaches of the carpark. Just for capturing the wider shots with their graffiti, a tripod would be useful, unless you are happy to shoot at a high ISO; flash is not going to penetrate the distances in the carpark and is going to create annoying shadows. There is also potential for macro or close-up photography for some interesting abstract images, and lighting would be useful for this so that you can shoot with a small aperture; flash would be appropriate for this.

Exeter Car Park- the Renovation Threat

Now here is the catch. Exeter city fathers have just earmarked £2.5million to renovate the car park, improve the lighting and fix the problems that have meant closing the upper floors. That is obviously good news for the citizens of Exeter and visitors to the city. But not for us photographers! The renovation works will inevitably mean the removal of the graffiti and while all this is going on the areas affected will be closed off. At the timeof writing it’s not known when work will start.