Hand Painted Sign – Siem Reap, Cambodia

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Originally uploaded by inspiritu

Discovered this unusually lovely painted sign while walking on a side street in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Illustrated signs are very common in Cambodia, a country with a low literacy rate. Signs for everything from barber shops to motorcycle repair have illustrations to go along with the script text. Usually they are very colorful and have a certain primitive quality to their draftsmanship. What strikes me about this sign are it monochromatic tones, and the grace with which it is painted. To my eye it is really quite lovely.