Video: Columbus Native, National Photographer Launches Graffiti Bridge Project

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COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) — A well-known Columbus native, national and international photographer is launching a  campaign to help fund her unique photo book of an eye-catching graffiti bridge.

She takes a deeper look into layers of paint on the bridge, as she tells the story of inevitable change.

It all began in 2011 when Rachael Pongetti began photographing the Pensacola Graffiti Bridge, a well-known landmark for locals.

“I wasn’t interested until they said it changed everyday. I was going through a lot of change that I was not wanting to accept and I thought as a photographer, it would be a good opportunity for me to visually explore that,” said creator of the book, Rachael Pongetti.

While photographing the bridge, Rachael discovered just how many layers of paint make up the bridge.

“The bridge was built in 1888 but it’s been painted on since the 1950’s and to me, what I realized is that even though all these stories are embedded in the paint and they’re covered up, they never really go away. They’re still there, they still remain,” said Pongetti.

Since 2011 The Graffiti Bridge Project has grown tremendously.

Rachael is now creating a book, titled “Layers of Paint”, which features 365 days of photos of the bridge and stories from some of the local bridge artists.

“It’s going to be a more intimate look at the different artists that tag it, more intimate look at the people who were involved with it and tell a little about some of the graffiti writers and tell a little bit about my journaling,” added Pongetti.

Rachael has begun a 33-day  campaign to fund the book through www.kickstarter.com, which is a way to raise money for creative projects.

She now has 21 days left to raise $25,000.

Her hometown of Columbus has supported her through this journey, as long time friends hosted a fund-raiser for the book.

“That’s what’s great about Columbus is the community and this community is helping me to get a book together about the Pensacola community, I don’t think it gets much better than that,” said Pongetti.

Although the book is based in Pensacola, she says it’s message is universal.

“Everybody at some point in their life is going to have to deal with critical change and  I think the more we learn to embrace it, the less difficult it’s going to be to navigate through it and that is a message for everybody,” added Pongetti.

Rachel hopes to have “Layers Of Paint” published in the spring.

For more information on the project, visit www.pensacolagraffitibridge.com

To donate to the project, visit kickstarter.com/profile/graffitibridge