Hardcover with Dustjacket
Former graffiti writer and founding member of the Montana Writer Team, Ruedione retired the spraycan years back, picking up a camera in its place. For Backflashes – Graffiti Tales, he’s captured covert graffiti missions in his signature black and white style from Hamburg, Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Manheim and Dortmund Germany; New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco in the USA; Amsterdam and Zwolle in the Netherlands; Naples and Salermo Italy; Sao Paulo, Brazil and Santiago de Chile. These pictures portray not only the forms, letters and characters, but also the moments, emotions and impressions that are integral to the act of writing graffiti. The raw inspiration, the adrenaline and the emotional weight of these artful, yet illegal acts are captured faithfully by a member of the cognoscenti. A writer himself, Ruedione has been a constant companion to some of the best known graffiti artists for many years. His understanding of the lifestyle, the craft, artistic and illicit performance allows for a revealing vision that is clearly expressed throughout his work and which captures the act of graffiti as never before.
Graffiti lives not only from the colours and shapes of the letters and figures, but to a large extent also from the moments, the impressions and emotions. Experienced from one's own perspective, these exciting and adrenalin-charged nocturnal actions remain merely personal snapshots of the individual writer. Unique and unrepeatable. Moments in which some writers wish they could stay forever. Moments that exist only in the memory and can hardly be recreated by outsiders.
For over 6 years now, ruedione has accompanied graffiti writers all over the world on their forays to capture these moments photographically. With perfect technique and a trained eye, he manages to document the atmosphere of these forays in an extremely authentic way. He is less concerned with graffiti itself or the actual person doing it than with the moment the writer is experiencing. The tension, the adrenaline, the smell of the paint, the darkness, often a pulsating metropolis in the background.
This book is much more than just a book of photographs. With his black-and-white photographs, ruedione manages to convey emotions that are difficult to put into words. He takes the viewer with him on these expeditions instead of just telling him about them. He takes him along as a silent observer, in the midst of the group, between the tracks and all the tension, and lets him participate in this experience himself.
Besides ruedione, writers like DAZE, JEPSY, DARE, ANGER and many more have their say on more than 200 pages. With statements on the subject of bombing and personal reflections on the midnight rambles, they underline these unique snapshots.
Far more than photography - far more than graffiti.