About 2 years ago, I came across across BOOGIE's first book: "It's All Good," and the raw, visceral content has stuck with me ever since. For those of you who haven't seen or picked up the book, you're missing out on one of the more powerful documentations of street life that has come out in recent memory. My first reaction to the book was similar to what I felt when I first picked up American Pictures by Jacob Holdt. And if you're not familiar with that book either, let's just say it doesn't leave you with a warm, happy feeling.
Dante came to us with the idea of doing a special project with Boogie for the release of his self-titled second book. I was excited, but wanted to do more than just a tee, and the three of us came up with the idea of doing a zine of photos that didn't make the book. When we got together to review the first samples of the zine, the conversations we had about BOOGIE's new work were poignant enough that I figured we might as well share some of his remarks online. The following are excerpts from those exchanges:
SS: You said earlier that you attended the University of Belgrade to study Computer Science, and you've admitted that you never had a day of art education for photography. What lead you to photography?
BOOGIE: Both my father and grandfather were amateur photographers, so there were always cameras around when I was growing up... My dad also taught me basic darkroom skills and bought me my first camera. But I wasn't really into photography until 1993, when things in my country (Serbia) hit bottom, with war raging all around, riots on the streets, economic sanctions, complete madness ... I think I started taking pictures to preserve my sanity.
SS: Funny, thats somewhat similar to my experience... Not the war part of course, but the part about parental influence. I never took a design course, nor was I ever interested in taking design courses. I was a psychology major, but my mother was a designer, and I grew up around her business, so I guess these kinds of things just rub off.
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SS: Speaking with you today at the office, I got the sense that you are in a very different place today than you were when you took the photos in "It's All Good." I think people will see that there is something different going on in the new book, and the zine we're doing with you. Can you explain what has changed?
B: The only constant thing in life is change, and in my case, pretty much everything changed over the past few years. Amongst other things, becoming a father probably affected how I see things... and of course, as you change, your style evolves, and your subject matter changes, too. After finishing the work on gangs and drugs, I was in a dark spot: pretty depressed, unable to get thrills out of anything that wasn't a gun or a needle. It took me a while to bounce back. But now that I'm back, I see beauty everywhere. I realized you don't have to chase after extremes in order to nail a good shot; great images are all around, you just have to be open to them.
My second book, named just BOOGIE, I think, shows that I have a soul. It's a very personal collection of street photos from all around the world; no aggression this time...
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SS: Were you trying to tell a particularly story, or speak to a specific group, or even tell something about yourself with the first book? How about with this new one? Is there an overarching concern that runs through your work?
B: No. I never try to do anything like that. I just follow my heart and shoot what I feel like. I always try to avoid moralizing or preaching; I try not to judge people that I shoot.
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SS: What about the fanzine format interested you? Why not save these photos for another book or just present them in a web gallery?
B: When I was growing up, fanzines were the way to find information about new bands, and what was going on in the punk/hardcore scene. It was the blog of its day. And I really miss them; no one does that anymore-- it's all online now.
We're just doing a 100 of these-- very limited. It doesn't mean photos won't appear in any of the future books. But even if they don't, I have plenty of other material...
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SS: Tell me the stories behind some of the choices for the zine we're doing.
B: I don't think a photographer should edit his own work. At least, in my case, it's impossible to be objective. There are certain images that I may be attached to because of the circumstance in which they were taken, but those might not be the best photos. For the second book, I asked for the help from a good friend of mine whose vision I respect and who knows me and my work very well. I just let him do the whole selection with as little interference as possible... and of course, some of my favorites didn't make the book. The idea of the fanzine was to show some of my favorite outtakes.
This one was taken in Chicago, in a really rough neighborhood. I was hired to take some stills for a documentary on a notorious gang leader. Chicago is a tough city; I almost got killed in the Cabrini Green projects when some 10 year olds started chasing us with fireworks and throwing firecrackers at us.
I love this one. I love how her face is a little blurry. I saw her on my way home, walking towards the L train, and I couldn't resist taking a shot.
This was the first shot I took of these two mariachis (there is an area in Mexico City where people go to hire the mariachi bands - band members line up along the road, kind of like the day laborers here, waiving to cars trying to get a job)... then I probably burned the whole roll. Usually the first shot is the best, cause you don't think-- you just react.
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SS: So... What's next?
B: I've got 3 or 4 more books coming out this year, and a lot of shooting ahead, as always.
SS: Sounds good. I think it's going to be very interesting to see where your work goes with these new books.
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The tee and zine will be sold as a set with along with signed copies of Boogie's new book at the release party Thursday March 20th at powerHouse books. The tee and zine will be available online at the 10.Deep and powerHouse websites on Monday, March 24th.
The hardcover BOOGIE book is produced in a run of 500, and retails for $200 US/ 200 EU. 10.Deep's BOOGIE fanzine is limited to 100 pieces, and will be available for purchase only with the exclusive tee.
Words: Scott Sasso, 2008
http://www.powerhousebooks.com
