(CNN) -- "If you give me Times Square, I want to give it back to the people." JR, the 30-year-old globetrotting French street artist, could well say the same about the slums of Kenya or the favelas of Brazil, where he has created large-scale projects. Known for his black-and-white portraits, poster-sized or much larger and pasted on public walls, streets, grounds, rooftops and even trucks, JR considers himself an "urban artivist" -- i.e., an artist who is an activist. In New York earlier this month, he invited passersby to get their portraits taken and pasted on the ground at Times Square. Equipped with a photo booth truck that instantaneously printed 36"x53" posters, his crew recruited volunteers -- some of whom held a large broom/brush and very sticky glue -- to help add the next portrait to the mosaic of faces.
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JR, a French street artist, brought his "Inside Out" project to Times Square in New York
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A documentary about JR will debut on HBO on May 20 at 9 p.m. ET/PT
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"Inside Out" is a social experiment in how people see themselves and reflect society
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JR tends to focus on people and faces that most would easily ignore or forget
New York
New York
Another wondered if JR's posters too much resemble advertisements, especially in image-saturated cities like @placeholder.