I'll admit that deciding to use this sticker tonight is a total cheat. Just by looking at it you know there is no real way to look the image up for a creator. True it is a very unique style and there aren't many graffiti artists out there that do what appears to be a self-portrait, but there also isn't enough detail in the image to narrow my search down. If there was even a hint of a signature that would help, although I guess in a way these are technically signed. Since they appear to be self-portraits, these stickers are quite personal to the artist behind them and it's unlikely anyone would be able to copy them. By not putting a name to these cap stickers, this artist makes them not only truly unique but also in a way fairly universal. This man could be anyone and in a way can be related to by all. Everyone knows at least one person who's look was defined by the baseball cap they used to wear growing up or are still wearing today. I know we couldn't go anywhere without my one brother's cap, still technically can't today although the hat has grown up a bit.
The main reason tonight's post is a cheat though is because I knew another local blog had already featured these particular stickers on their site without any success in determining the artist. Pittsburgh Orbit is a local blog and Instagram feed that looks at the unique and bizarre elements that can be found around the city. Their Instagram feed is updated daily with photos of the things they've found and once a week they will take a more in depth look at something in the blog. They feature a lot of graffiti, found objects, unique signs, and a plethora of things that can only be understood here in Pittsburgh. This is actually one of the few blogs I generally follow and am always intrigued by the elements of the city that they feature. If you haven't heard of them before this, I highly suggest checking them out for yourself. So every time I would see this sticker when I would go through my collection, I already knew that it would be unlikely that I would find anything new about the mind behind it. Actually in the end Pittsburgh Orbit featured this sticker twice, once in the summer and then they did a follow-up to it in the fall. In their pieces they speculate that the artist behind these was most likely a student and frequent bus rider since the stickers seemed to be localized along Forbes avenue and the Oakland area. I can't say I disagree with this thought process, I'm pretty sure I've only seen this particular sticker style in the Oakland area. In their follow-up, they say that they're pretty sure "Cap Man" has left the area though since there really haven't been any new additions to the stickers. But whether or not this artist is still in the Pittsburgh area, whoever they were they have certainly left their mark here on the city.
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Maggie Ondrey
An amateur photographer and writer capturing a small portion of the city. Archives
August 2017
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