A Wah Do Dem

Over the last decade, one of the guides through the street photography has been the seemingly fearless Vladimir Milivojevich, otherwise known as Boogie. Born and raised in Belgrade, in 1969, Boogie began photographing his war-torn country in the 1990's. His website (www.artcoup.com) says, "growing up in a war-torn country defined Boogie's style and attraction to the darker side of human existence." Since being granted United States residency in 1997 via the country's Diversity Immigrant Visa lottery program, Boogie has had six books published and shown the world rawness many are insulated from. Drugs, gangs, and guns may be what hit the observer of his work the hardest, but Boogie's work is more than shock value. Though it is hard to argue that a gun pointed towards the camera is hard to top, Boogie gives us more than that. More than collections of gut-punch images. His projects are an experience, a blend of documentary and street that put the viewer in the thick of it all, but with far less shakier footing than we likely would have. Boogie's latest book, 'A Wah Do Dem' (Drago, 2015) builds upon the photographer's rock-solid body of work with one notable exception. Unlike his previous projects, this is given to us in truly glorious color. With Kingston, Jamaica being the focus, color was undoubtedly the route to take. Testament to this comes with first viewing the cover, with two gangsters in horror masks, brandishing assault rifles in front of a green and purple wall. The tone is set from the get-go... tighten your laces and crack your neck, because this isn't going to be a sightseeing tour. Clearly, Boogie thrives in this environment. Leafing through A Wah Do Dem's 124, full-bleed pages it becomes clearer yet that Boogie the photographer needs to be there, or maybe even belongs there. A dangerous hybrid of documentary photographer and adrenaline junkie, Boogie takes the reader into the Kingston that the vast majority of us will never know and does so intensely. Because having the stones to document in this style wouldn't matter if Boogie wasn't a good photographer. And make no mistake, Boogie is a great photographer.