Sergej Vutuc: Something in Between

It's a surprise to see ultra-rad skateboard culture clothing manufacturer Carhartt underwriting an exhibition catalog of fine photography - except when the artist is skateboard punk chronicler and performance artist Sergej Vutuc. The young Bosnian artist started skateboarding before he was 10, using improvised equipment on the streets of the former Yugoslavia. Whether he's following young skaters or elderly dancers on the streets of Germany or Pittsburg, he chronicles his surroundings with rare empathy in dynamic black and white photos. He doesn't hesitate to scratch his prints, interfere with images, let things go blurry; it's all part of the improvisational feel. Says Vutuc, "Tom Waits make me feel common. Make dead city more nice."