--- title: Graffiti and the Human Cry for Connection description: In the Digital Age, tangibility might be dying away—but the cry for acknowledgement and connection remains very much alive. See: graffiti. canonical: https://time.com/3880335/graffiti-and-the-human-cry-for-connection/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-03T15:06:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:03:39.871Z og:title: Graffiti and the Human Cry for Connection og:description: In the Digital Age, tangibility might be dying away—but the cry for acknowledgement and connection remains very much alive. See: graffiti. og:url: https://time.com/3880335/graffiti-and-the-human-cry-for-connection/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdaa1cb7aff778e32/69884c173c1639afe445775d/140703-nyc-graffiti-vernon-merritt-1969.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Graffiti, NYC, 1969 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Graffiti and the Human Cry for Connection twitter:description: In the Digital Age, tangibility might be dying away—but the cry for acknowledgement and connection remains very much alive. See: graffiti. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdaa1cb7aff778e32/69884c173c1639afe445775d/140703-nyc-graffiti-vernon-merritt-1969.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # We Were Here: Graffiti and the Human Cry for Connection > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Jul 3, 2014 3:06 PM UTC  New York City graffiti, 1969. New York City graffiti, 1969. Vernon Merritt III—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Jul 3, 2014 3:06 PM UTC All people, everywhere, share one elemental characteristic: sooner or later, we all die. But along with that shared mortality comes another, perhaps less-bleak, common thread: the urge to leave a mark, a personalized stamp on the world, so others will know we were here. Photographer Vernon Merritt III captured a manifestation of this innate human need in a picture he made in New York City in 1969\. The movingly straightforward message of the graffiti in Merritt’s photo—“Kevin was here”—suggests a longing, at its core, for human connection. It’s also reminiscent of the graffiti left around the globe by U.S. troops during World War II, [“Kilroy Was Here,”](http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/kilroy.asp) which made its way into the popular culture of the time. (LIFE magazine even ran an ad at one point mentioning that servicemen took solace in knowing that wherever they went, “Kilroy” was there, too.) Today, in a world increasingly dominated by technology, countless people seem to feel they exist only as long as their status updates and tweets are seen and “liked.” And yet, despite the online noise, some of us still embrace traditional ways to make ourselves seen, and heard. From faceless, rebellious teens (and preteens, and even adults) keeping old methods alive—tagging buildings, bridges, and other structures—to megastars like Beyoncé, with her haunting song, [“I Was Here,”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RDUjA0fN4o&feature=kp) humans continue to leave their mark. In the Digital Age, tangibility might be dying away—but the cry for acknowledgement and connection remains very much alive. **_Katie Yee_** _is a native New Yorker, an undergraduate studying Literature and Psychology at Bennington College, and an editorial assistant at_ [_Tweed’s Magazine of Literature & Art_](http://tweedsmag.org)_._  New York City graffiti, 1969. 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