GOING FORWARD PHOTONIQUE WILL BE ADVERTISMENT FREE
GOING FORWARD PHOTONIQUE WILL BE ADVERTISMENT FREE
Originally Photographed August 2017
I USED A SONY A7RII With A Voigtlander 15MM Lens
I used a Sony A7RII with a Voigtlander 15mm Lens
Both murals are by the same artist: the internationally renowned Australian street and graffiti artist Smug (also known as Smug One, born Sam Bates).
Both pieces were painted freehand using aerosol spray paint during the Waterford Walls International Street Art Festival in August 2016 (located in the Stephen Street / New Street area of Waterford city centre).
The female subject in the beanie and scarf is a portrait of Louise Flynn, who was a key curator and director for the Waterford Walls project.
The male portrait faces her just down the terrace/street, framed in the same distinctive rounded-rectangle backdrop over an exposed gable end wall.
Hailing originally from a small town south of Sydney, Australia, and later basing his studio practice in Glasgow, Scotland, Smug has established himself as one of the world's foremost practitioners of large-scale photorealistic and hyperrealistic street art.
Signature Technique and Style
100% Freehand Aerosol Control: Smug is celebrated in the urban art world for executing monumental, gallery-grade photorealism entirely freehand using standard spray cans—working without grids, stencils, or digital projectors even on multi-story facades.
Hyper-Detail & Textures: His control of can pressure and nozzle caps allows him to render micro-textures with extraordinary precision: individual hair strands, beard stubble, pores, fabric weave in knitted beanies, weathered skin, and reflections in the iris.
Play of Light and Subdued Palettes: As seen in both Waterford portraits, Smug frequently balances muted, naturalistic, desaturated tones (earthy greys, moss greens, and soft tans) against striking rim lighting and sharp highlights that give the figures immense sculptural depth against the building facades.
Architectural Integration: Rather than covering the entire brick or pebble-dashed surface indiscriminately, he frequently frames his portraits within clean, rounded "apertures" or pseudo-canvases that leave the surrounding masonry visible, respecting the architectural character of the host structure.
Everyday Characters & Empathy: While much of his broader portfolio features cheeky self-portraits, humorous vignettes, or local folklore, his human portraiture consistently captures warm, grounded, unpretentious people—often local residents, friends, or cultural peers—imbued with a quiet dignity and intense presence. Across Ireland and the UK, Smug has painted several landmark works—including his famous St Mungo mural in Glasgow, various pieces across Belfast, and subsequent monumental works in Waterford (such as his massive facade at the former Crowne Plaza/Ard Rí site).
During those formative years, New Street Garden and its immediate environs served as the festival’s creative ground zero, anchoring an impressive concentration of murals across neighbouring gables, lanes, and historic streetscapes: