Photographer Boogie Gets Down With The Gangs Of New York

Serbian born photographer Boogie, is re-releasing his book ‘It’s All Good’ which is a monograph of druggies, gangs, violence, homelessness and guns in New York’s most notorious neighbourhoods. The book was first released in 2006 and will be reissued in December this year.

Boogie immerses himself in the underworld of areas such as Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Queensbridge where he befriends drug users, gangs and people with guns, who invite him to photograph them. The photographs are without judgment but rather are a direct documentation of the reality for the people he shoots.

Boogie grew up in Belgrade which was safe until the 90s when civil war broke out, and then morals were abandoned and weapons became commonly present.

“That’s when I started doing photography, in the dark times, and I’m pretty sure that darkness stuck with me in some way. Later when I thought about it, I realised I probably started shooting to distance myself from reality, when you are behind the camera you are an observer, not a participant” said Boogie

Boogie found the area he lived in in New York to be boring which is when he ventured into the rough areas of Brooklyn. He met a woman called Christine who has just been released from jail.

“I started hanging out with her and a week later she told me, ‘Hey Boogie, my friend will stop by to smoke crack tonight, do you wanna take some pictures?” said Boogie.

After that he went to the public housing projects and was soon approached by gangsters. One asked him: “Hey, Boogie, would you take some photos of us with guns?” However things changed the more he spent time with them.

“It went deeper and deeper from there, to the point that these guys started discussing who they were gonna hit, who they gonna rob, in front of me. I realised then I was in too deep and decided to go back to shooting drug addicts.” Said Boogie.

Boogie’s approach to document and report on his subject matter, means viewers get to see inside the underbelly of New York and inside the world of gangs and drug addicts.

“I think it’s important to show the world as it is; some people have it rougher than others. I am not trying to be shocking, I just shoot what I see” said Boogie.

Boogie has two other books to come out after ‘It’s All Good”. His work is important in unveiling a world we wouldn’t otherwise get to see. His direct approach is effective and revealing.