About

London never stops redecorating itself. Posters are pasted over posters, tags are buffed, hoardings go up and come down. Filippo Romano works in that gap, between one layer and the next.

Rather than photographing the city, he scans it. A portable scanner, moved by hand across a wall at street level, captures paint, paper and grime with no lens, no perspective and no horizon — only surface. His hand introduces drift and distortion, so no scan can be repeated, even on the same wall.

Trained as a graphic designer, with six years in branding and visual identity, Romano composes these captures into layered prints that sit between documentary record and abstract image. Each work in the Urban Surface Archive comes from a London street, and many of the sources no longer exist.

Artist note

The tags and street markings used within this work are not my own. They are part of the public environment and are documented as found across London. If you recognise your work or tag within any piece and would like to be credited, please email me directly. I am happy to acknowledge original artists and direct any traffic or attention towards your work.