Rue by Michael J DeMeo
28 pages / B & W / 8.5″ x 11″
80lb cover laser white /70lb laser white smooth guts
release date: May 1 2012
SOLD OUT
“This is a story about my friend…about addiction.”
Rue is the new softcover photo book by Michael J DeMeo. This series of photographs cover a typical day in the life of graffiti artist and struggling addict Davey, a member of the notorious BTM graffiti clique. Shot in stark black and white using a variety of 35mm and medium format cameras DeMeo brings Davey’s story to us in beautiful yet grimey detail. A documentary project that takes us from the railroad tracks, to a flop house, and back out onto the streets.
“This was a really personal project for me,” says DeMeo. ”I see a lot of myself in Davey and I wanted to portray his life in a realistic yet unexploited way. At the time we shot this project Davey was essentially homeless. Sometimes staying at his then girlfriend’s house, a stripper and addict who lived with one of her customers. Davey would have to climb through her window and sleep beneath dirty clothes to elude detection. More often than not he slept outside somewhere trying to hide from the cops. But through it all Davey was a friend, and thats the way it will always be…”
Rue has been exhibited at the Independent Publishing Fair in Portugal 2012, Papier Gache Fanzine Festival 2012 in Paris, Flash Forward Festival 2012 in Boston MA, and the Printmania 2012 event in Boston. Rue is also part of the Museum of Modern Art’s library.
