TRAINS DE MARCHANDISES – VOLUME 1
RAP is a Paris originated writer who started doing graffiti in the early nineties. As member of maybe the most iconic French bombing crews U.V. and TPK he has not only been active as a hardcore writer of the capital, he also always kept documenting what was going on around him.
“I’m a graffiti addict, so I couldn’t imagine not taking pictures of others too. So I took pictures of everything I could. […] My aim is to share and save those archives.” (Interview on www.lectrics.fr in 2014)
Whether it has been tags in the streets or tunnels of Paris, heavily destroyed commuter trains, sometimes from all over Europe, or freight trains – RAP always kept an eye open for graff that was worth capturing. With the GRAFFALIFE series he started publishing parts of his big archive material in books and magazines, each with a thematic focus.
In the first volume of “TRAINS DE MARCHANDISES” you can find a mixture of straight documentary photographic content, action shots and atmospheric shots from yards, bridges and industrial areas taken in between 2008 and 2012. While for example the European Transwaggon trains travel all over Europe and you have a number of writers whose names might appear in Hamburg, Stockholm or Bucharest , the French system seems to be more closed. Of course you can find stuff from KISS, NASE, KAYE, KOSMO, FLASH and even traces of FUME and FIRE, but the main part consist of names and styles one is not used to, if not interested in the French fret-scene. Most of the shots seem to be taken while RAP was active in the yards, getting up with countless tags, throw-ups and pieces in the common U.V. TPK style.
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