Alyssa Russell Photography: December 2018

These photos show a portion of the art and advertisements found around the Hyde Park and Lake View communities. Comparing that of each neighborhood shows a clear difference in community values, style and structure.

Hyde Park

Hyde Park is a diverse and socially conscious community. These characteristics are a common theme for murals, posters and advertisements.

The beautiful murals around Hyde Park tend to focus on the often difficult history of the area and the people living in the area.

There are countless stickers on everything from light posts to mailboxes emphasizing different social problems that need to be addressed. These, less planned than murals and advertisements, often are a better representation of the values shared in the community.

Many murals around Hyde Park spread the difficult stories of real people who live there. This further unifies the Hyde Park community as people can relate to complete strangers and feel more connected as a whole.

As you move further South, the effects on class of the Black Belt during the Great Migration become more apparent. Here, the gas station advertises sales and low prices in order to increase sales.

Being more diverse than other areas including Lake View, Hyde Park values diversity and coming together. This is another common topic for murals throughout the area.

Lake View

Lake View is artistic and has a large community of LGBTQ+ people. These characteristics find their way into the art and advertisements throughout the area.

Lake View is a community that emphasizes the individual people within it. Here, three faceless children are depicted playing by the water, but upon closer inspection, various tiles throughout the mural depict real photographs of Lake View residents. This depicts the personal side of the community.

This particular part of Lake View is also known as "Boystown" due to the larger community of LGBTQ+ people. This is an example of an advertisement marketing directly to a community based on a defining characteristic of that community.

Lake View is home to countless theaters and dog owners. This is represented on the advertisements posted above. On the trashcan to the left, a "queers" sticker is visible further acknowledging one of the community's characteristics.

Although not the most diverse area in terms of religion, the Lake View community is conscious of the variety of religions within the community.

Being an artistic neighborhood, the elementary schools in the area emphasize art and even paint murals and make sculptures for display throughout Lake View.