Personalia presents some of the most active and prominent graffiti writers from Sweden and depicts their lifestyle. For four years photographer Janne Riikonen infiltrated the Swedish graffiti scene by photographing writers and following them on missions. Gradually he got accepted into the scene, and got to meet hundreds of writers all across the country. The static photographs present writers as the people they are and invites the readers to a private meeting with them.
Showcasing the many different walks of life encompassed by practitioners, Personalia looks past the simplistic notions held by the general public of what graffiti culture is and who identifies with it. The finely designed book comes in limited edition of 800 copies. Follow Janne on Instagram here: janne_riikonen
OUT NOW! Incognito Magazine 23 finally arrived! We have a new edition of Incognito Magazine, number 23 in stock! Five heavy special features in a wide range of styles featuringJeans,Alex,Skii, Kwote and Zemsta. Beyond that, four thick sections of the best styles around categorised in walls, trains and bombing. Don’t miss out on this and get it here: ONLINE SHOP
We got the chanse to talk too the great photographer Vivian Brussels about his recent projects and how he got started in photographing the graffiti culture. In this interview Vivian Brussels choose to show 10 portraits of some of the worlds most famous graffiti writers representing London, New York, Helsinki and Amsterdam.
Tell us a little bit about yourself! I started photography at 16, shooting the skate and snow scene. I then started to hang and shoot around the Brussels graffiti artists and hip-hop scene. Today I am mostly doing portraits, documenting street life, subcultures & strong characters.
Where do you live? Brussels City
How did you get into photography? My grand father was into it, so I received a camera around 12 and later I start to make pictures when skateboarding and then got some publications.
How come you started photographing graffiti writers and the culture? I was into writing by myself and I start to shoot the burners on the train track and then I met a local king and start to shoot with him (see my book brussels gold school).
Have you been involved in any other sub-culture and photographed it? Yes, I started shooting skateboarding, create my own fanzine in 1991 (Def Skate) and started to get published in Anyway, a french skate mag, and I also shoot snowboarding. Check some out here: Vivian.brussels/archives
Tell us a story of when you followed a graffiti writer out on a mission? Not specially, I didn’t follow a lot of missions, just a few. I used to do the mission for many years, I can tell you we where doing the Amsterdam subway when we were chased by the guard early 2000 I think it was bloody scary.
New York, 27 augut 2015. Photos : Vivian Hertz
Do you have any favorite photographers? Not specially, there is tons of good ones, too much I would say.
Do you have any other projects you work on? Yes I’m working mostly on badass & street life, like weed dealers, striptease club, old bank robbers, bad guys living in the social housing etc.
Who or what inspires you in photography? First the atmosphere from the 70’s cops movies and then meeting people with a non ordinary life, unconventional and street minded, I like the vibes from the ghetto, the old new york, the rough places.
Do you have photography as your profession? I’m 100% a photographer, working mostly for the european bubble here in Brussels, it pays the bills.
What equipment do you use? D700 mostly, I’have a Mamiya 645 and some old nikon.
Three words that describe your photographs? Life, atmosphere, youth!
Do you have any future projects going on? I try to stick to my list, next project is to portrait old gangsters.
Do you have any favorite city in the world and why? NY of course, I went there the first time in 1993, the atmosphere was intense.
Natural VS artificial light, which do you prefer working with? Natural only, I’m documenting mostly so I want to stick with the real.
What do you do when not taking pictures? Seeing my girl or my friends, traveling, reading books, exploring the city to find some dirty places.
What do you think of social media, give us your thoughts on the
positive and negative side of it? It’s cool to see whats going on everywhere in the world, its too bad how people are mad with social network, quality work is not anymore the criteria, now its how many followers you have. Follow Vivian on instagram here: www.instagram.com/vivianbrussels Check my two books out here, one is about pieces from the end of the 80’s & early 90’s in Brussels, the other one is portraits of graffiti writers: Vivian.brussels/books
FIVE FAVORITES Camera: D700 Digital/Analog: Analog, but I shoot mostly digital because of the cost. Type of photo location: ghetto/dirty street Lighting: Natural only City: NYC
Incognito Magazine just released their 19th issue. 68 pages of walls, bombing and this time with an extra big amount of trains from writers like Sailor, Noee, Peach, Pilchi, Sabe, WOL, THE, GBR and many others. In the special features section there is three exclusive photo specials. North American street styler Jetski, A bizarre amount of trains from the man Moss and last but not least a special with Sior, a guy that have been under the radar for many people but you most definitely will remember after this.
Sadly the great globetrotter and writerRisk passed away early this year. Accompanied by a selection of his amazing pieces we asked a few people that have spent some memorable times with him to share their memories with us,
In the special features section we have three exclusive photo specials! North American street styler Jetski. A bizarre amount of trains from the man Moss and last but not least a special with Sior, a guy that have been under the radar for many people but you most definitely will remember after this.
Another fresh graffiti video from Russia. Bam Content presents Ednight #day and night” featuring BUNT crew. Dedicated to the photographer,BUNT Crew member,Edward Nightingale and his activities in Moscow. Two minutes of really nice footage and edit.
