Boogie (born Vladimir Milivojevich in 1969) is a street photographer from Serbia, he began his photography during the civil war of Serbia in the 1990’s. These experiences of war and civil unrest went on to influence Boogie’s style and attraction to the darker side of humanity. In 1998 he decided to move to New York City and from here he began to take photos of the gang and drug culture. This is where most of his most controversial and famous work comes from.
-Boogie
“I have an addictive personality.”
Boogie takes photos of rather taboo subjects such as drug use. When looking at these photographs, you can feel the emotions of the people. He really puts himself in harms way to capture shots of people at their most vulnerable. Boogie gets close to that line of what is acceptable and drifts past it on many occasions, I think he does this to show real life. Life that isn’t staged or pretty, to give life to those who are left on the outskirts and give the world a more realistic perspective on those we cast out.
Another subject Boogie took on, when he moved to New York was the gangs, He showed both sides of the coin for these pieces, from the hardened gang members, to the people they are behind the guns and swagger. I found these images intimidating, yet he would capture intimacy within them. I feel he is trying to show, that no matter who you are, behind it all you are a human who does feel joy and love.
“The streets are larger than life, they are living and breathing,”
-Boogie
My only real criticism of his work, is the gang studies are a bit more posed. I find this creates a bit of disconnect to the rawness that some of his other photos have. But I still feel that he is in a dangerous situation even when posed. They don’t look like models he has hired to look tough.
Boogies work rather interesting to digest. You can really pull what you want from it. I think street photography should be a reflexion on society and Boogie goes down to the under belly of the city and shines a light on it. The message that Boogie is giving, is that even those who have left their life slip into drugs and crime are still people, he captures a tenderness in horrible situations.
ayewelikefilms.home.blog 