Boogie

How Boogie used photography to become an observer in chaotic environments.

Discipline: Photography

Coming of age in wartime Belgrade, Serbia, Vladimir Milivojevich picked up a camera as a coping mechanism to deal with the civil unrest, rising crime, and chaos around him (1). He shot under the moniker Boogie. Boogie realized that if you’re behind the camera, you’re no longer a participant in the suffering but an observer. He won the green card lottery and moved to New York City in 1998. Not knowing anyone in his adopted city he got by doing odd jobs and would continue to bring his camera to shoot wherever he went.

Passing by a parking lot, he noticed a group of homeless people and asked if he could take their picture. Christina who spoke for the group told him to take as many pictures as he wanted. She would later see Boogie again and asked him, “A friend is swinging by, and we’re gonna shoot up. Do you want to come over and take pictures of us?” Attracted to revealing the darker side of life through photography Boogie found himself standing on top of a bathtub taking pictures of Christine as she shot up on the toilet. This was the first shot of a series dedicated to the horrible side of drug addiction (2).

Tiring of drug addicts, he started hanging out in the projects with gang members. Boogie describes his approach as one of crossing boundaries. Certain lines shouldn’t be crossed, but the deeper you cross over, the better pictures you’ll take (3). The ultimate goal is to be a fly on the wall and for people to accept you. That takes a lot of trust and time (4). The gang members would keep inviting him back until some of the younger members asked him if he’d like come back to take pictures of them with their guns. He did and couldn’t sleep thinking what if one of those guns went off? But the next day he went back to take more shots. Both prey and predators of the drug game he captured on film became part of his seminal first book “It’s All Good.”

His recent solo exhibitions include Paris, Tokyo, Milan, Istanbul and Los Angeles. He also has a successful commercial practice. His clients include Nike, Puma, Jordan, and HBO (his site). In addition to his fearlessness, he attributes focus to his creative success. “Nailing one good shot is easy. Telling a story is a completely different thing,” he remarks. Cheryl Dunn, a friend and street photographer in her own right, says he shoots about fifteen rolls of film per day (5). Boogie also reinforces that doing it for yourself first is when the good things start happening (6).

References
1. “BOOGIE Photographer in New York City.” YouTube, YouTube, 30 Apr. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhuezs66WsE.

2. Idem.

3. Dunn, Cheryl. “Everybody Street — Full Movie.” YouTube, YouTube, 9 June 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uixNgMtpL8.

4. Huck Magazine. “Boogie: Shooting the Streets.” YouTube, YouTube, 4 Mar. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWtKTWtSUAs.

5. Huck Magazine. “Cheryl Dunn on Boogie — New York Street Photography Part 1.” YouTube, YouTube, 10 Dec. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=deDlWaAsfoc.

6. “How To Make It In America: Hustles Stories — Boogie.” YouTube, YouTube, 7 May 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdDIkfHGbls.

Originally published at blog.viktorbezic.com.