Meet the women pushing for diversity in London’s graffiti scene

By Jack Ramage

Updated Apr 25, 2023 at 01:08 PM

Reading time: 5 minutes

43453
Disclaimer: Verity Raphael and Rahael Ross only paint legal walls and neither encourage, support nor incite illegal activity.

Humans have been writing on walls since the dawn of time. Graffiti—a stripped-back, DIY form of street art that decorates our cities and brings colour to the otherwise monotonous, monochromatic urban sprawl—is the modern-day reincarnation of this ancient act. From overhead train lines to high-street shutters, this form of art is often vilified as vandalism, despite the rich and complex subculture that surrounds it.

Graffiti is a powerful form of self-expression, a creative outlet and a means to challenge social norms. And yet, despite this, the subculture and community that surrounds it are often male-dominated. But why is that? SCREENSHOT spoke with two London-based women graffiti writers about their experience in the scene, what draws them to graffiti, and how we can encourage more women to pick up the spray can.

“I needed a release: some kind of kick, an act of rebellion,” writer and music journalist, Verity Raphael, told SCREENSHOT, recalling the first moment she found graffiti and the community that surrounds the subculture. “I was invited to be a lookout one day during lockdown while a group of six boys did an operation in Soho, London. They all had scooters, balaclavas and timed it perfectly.”

“It was so exciting, especially in the middle of lockdown, I hadn’t felt anything like that in a while,” she continued. “That’s what first inspired me to start sketching in my notebook.”

Meet the women pushing for diversity in London’s graffiti scene
Meet the women pushing for diversity in London’s graffiti scene

London-based artist and photographer, Rahael Ross, on the other hand, notes that there “wasn’t a particular moment” where she found graffiti and the underground subculture surrounding it. Instead, she was gradually exposed to the art form through squat parties as a teenager and exploring derelict, post-industrial areas of the capital.

“I also used to walk around Hackney Wick—when it wasn’t as gentrified as it is now, it was just old warehouses and car MOT centres—and it was covered in graffiti,” Ross told SCREENSHOT. “I’ve always loved art too, but I never put the two together until Verity [Raphael] suggested I should do graffiti as well. Once I started it, I asked myself: ‘Why haven’t I been doing this the whole time?’ To me, it just feels really natural, and it’s really fun as well.”

Meet the women pushing for diversity in London’s graffiti scene

A complex and multifaceted art form

Like every form of art, graffiti is transient: moulded by its environment, geography and culture of where it’s written. While any graffiti writer is free to create whatever they please, they often develop a style that is drawn from influences: whether that be where they’re from, where they’ve been or the type of message they’re trying to send.

This is a multifaceted and criminally overlooked subculture: from the classic bubble lettering, which has links to areas like The Bronx, to the angular and brutalist style of Pixação (or Pichação), a distinctive Brazilian form of street writing derived from heavy metal album covers, often cryptic and rooted in political protest.

“The Brazil scene has really inspired me,” Raphael adds, who took a trip there with Rahael in 2016, immersing themselves in the vibrant Brazilian graffiti culture. “I’m really inspired by the women writers, like Rxis and Baby Babi. They’re not trying to hide their femininity, they embrace it. Whereas, in London, some women writers try to be masculine in their style, which is fine, but for me, I’ve been inspired by graffiti writers who embrace their feminine side, and those writers, in particular, do it beautifully.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by BABY BABI (@1babybabi)

“Personally I’m a bubble-style girl. I’ve always loved it,” Raphael continues, admitting that her style goes against the grain of the often more angular graffiti seen in London. “I don’t think I have a particular style,” Ross shared. “But I definitely think it’s more angular than Verity [Raphael]’s. I try and change my letters up. I tend not to stick to the same thing as I find it gets boring. I often find myself incorporating other pieces of work into my own little bits.”

“All of graffiti is a reference to each other. It’s definitely okay to take influence from different styles,” Raphael agreed. “The beauty of it is, to start graffiti, you literally just need a pen—it doesn’t even have to be a fancy pen,” she continues, recalling the “learning curve” she experienced when starting her journey in graffiti just a few years ago.

“Then, once you’re ready to work up to a spray can, find a legal wall. Or don’t if you want to do it illegally, which I don’t personally encourage,” she added. “I’ve had a lot of friends being put in prison, taken to court and stuff, I’m not about that life personally but, obviously, I respect the real [illegal] graffiti culture.”

Meet the women pushing for diversity in London’s graffiti scene
Meet the women pushing for diversity in London’s graffiti scene

Pushing for diversity in the graffiti scene

Although the act of graffiti is accessible at its core, the subculture and community surrounding it remains very masculine. And while there is a strong network of women flying the flag for diversity, both Raphael and Ross note there is still work to be done to increase the representation of women and marginalised genders in the scene.

“Looking back, I started my graffiti journey in a very masculine way, helping an operation that was made up completely of men,” Raphael admits, recalling how although the traditional scene in London has a lot of “toxic masculine traits,” there were also men who supported her when she was a toy—a term used to describe a beginner graffiti writer.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Rave Report (@ravereport_)

“When I was just starting out, I had some great mentors like Cemer, Kaps, Bloke, Ingo, Ink, Skool, and Zonk who encouraged me, which was so important and powerful. I’m grateful for them, even if my path now has been encouraging other women and bringing them into the scene,” Raphael added.

More recently, Raphael has shifted her energy away from the masculine scene, preferring to paint with women who have never picked up a spray can before. “That’s been a beautiful experience,” she describes. “It’s almost like a whole new philosophy to the traditional [and more masculine] version of graffiti. I find it a completely different experience, different energy—it’s all about encouragement, and helping each other a bit more.”

Raphael likens the often hyper-masculine subculture of graffiti to a “competitive sport” where rivalries and beef are rife. And it’s true. Spend a week observing the ever-changing shutters on the streets of London and you’ll see just how ephemeral this form of art, and the subculture around it, is.

“It can get really aggressive, with people painting over each other all the time,” Raphael remarks. “You notice people often write nasty stuff too. This isn’t everyone [in the community] of course, but I think graffiti traditionally does attract people who have suffered from difficult pasts and don’t necessarily have the means to express themselves [in any other way].”

There is also space for the community to grow and diversify too, and “it’s important to encourage that,” Raphael adds. “A lot of the people who make up the traditional graffiti scene are white men, which is really interesting because they obviously have less of a risk with police than other groups,” she continues. “On the other hand, there are many people from marginalised groups who may not necessarily feel like the graffiti scene is a space for them. But, by creating a safe supportive environment, like meeting up at a legal wall, we can inspire them to pick up a can and write something revolutionary.

Meet the women pushing for diversity in London’s graffiti scene

With local authorities across the UK, and the world, continuing to crack down on graffiti and street art blanketed as vandalism, the rich and complex subculture surrounding the act of writing on walls remains misunderstood. In Ross’ eyes, though, that’s what helps shape the art form and the community around it.

“There’s definitely a stigma around graffiti writing, but I don’t think it needs changing. The stigma is what makes graffiti, graffiti. The fact that there is a stigma, and it is mostly illegal, is what makes it underground,” she notes.

“The communities involved in it wouldn’t be the same if the stigma was removed as well. I don’t think graffiti should be mainstream and liked by everyone—because then it wouldn’t be graffiti,” Ross concluded.

Keep On Reading

By Charlie Sawyer

Mexican beauty influencer Valeria Marquez killed during TikTok livestream in alleged femicide

By Charlie Sawyer

Odd Muse founder Aimee Smale fights back against fast fashion controversy on TikTok

By Abby Amoakuh

What is soft swinging? And why is the term trending on Mormon TikTok?

By Abby Amoakuh

Epstein and Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre becomes centre of conspiracy theories after revealing she has days to live

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Is Tate McRae a secret Trump supporter? Fans react to viral speculation

By Abby Amoakuh

Trying to manifest your dream partner for 2025? Influencer-backed app To Be Magnetic says it can help

By Charlie Sawyer

Sabrina Carpenter accused of centering men on controversial album cover

By Abby Amoakuh

Self-swab DNA kits by nonprofit Enough hit with backlash for claiming it could end rape in universities

By Abby Amoakuh

Who is Lauren Handy, the woman who kept the remains of five foetuses in her refrigerator?

By Charlie Sawyer

Jenna Ortega’s 2025 film Death of a Unicorn: plot, cast, and everything we know so far

By Abby Amoakuh

White Lotus star called out for tone deaf comments about double standards with male and female nude scenes

By Charlie Sawyer

How Emily Bhatnagar transformed her father’s cancer battle into a lifeline for sick children

By Abby Amoakuh

What to expect from Molly-Mae Hague’s new Amazon Prime docuseries, Molly-Mae: Behind it All

By Lucy Skoulding

The US death penalty under Donald Trump: Why executions are on the rise again

By Charlie Sawyer

Harry Potter star defends Tom Felton over his controversial comments on JK Rowling’s transphobia

By Charlie Sawyer

Gen Zers are taking out travel insurance policies for their Labubus ahead of summer

By Abby Amoakuh

Why are people claiming that Mark Zuckerberg killed JonBenét Ramsey and Jeffrey Epstein?

By Abby Amoakuh

What is Red Tuesday and how is it threatening relationships right before Valentine’s Day?

By Abby Amoakuh

Everybody’s talking about these White Lotus season 3 theories, and so should you

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Australian erotic novelist charged with child abuse material offenses after backlash over latest book