TIE ONE - Photo by Kept

Not too long ago we had a meeting with Kept One, a controversial graffiti artist from the Bay Area, United States. He began writing in 1990 and is known for his style innovations. A good conversation and many refreshing ideas followed, however, time was short. We are working on a number of projects and one of them is to release a photo print. And not just any photo. It's a photo of the legendary TIE ONE (Seo / Shae / His / Jonathan Lim). Kept took this spontaneous portrait of TIE, South of Market in San Francisco, the week prior to his murder in March, 1998.

On March 18th, 1998, TIE was shot on the fire escape of a residential building in the San Francisco Tenderloin, and died on the street below; the district attorney didn't press charges against the shooter, who said that he shot in self-defense as TIE grabbed at his gun. A woman in a parking lot below told police she heard TIE yell, "Wait man, hold on!" The resident disputed this account. His bicycle was on the street below. He was carrying a bag containing a spray can.

This photo print is a tribute to his close friend TIE.

Kept remembers the day well: "I ran into MQ and TIE while walking – smoking weed and coffees in hand – around 10:30 am to check out some of Jonathan's new spots. We asked him to get in the photo and he quickly grabbed that piece of cardboard to 'censor' his face. More than 2 decades have passed since Jonathan was killed and I still think about him all the time. His murder was like an atom bomb in the SF scene. Respect to all who knew and loved him and to all the new generation that are inspired by him."

This silver gelatin photo print is made in an edition of 25 copies, all produced and signed by Kept. What is a silver gelatin print? A silver gelatin print is a black and white image exposed from an analogue film negative using only traditional darkroom, optical and chemical processes. The process produces an image with deep blacks, and a lustre from the actual silver particles in the paper. Each is made by hand and only 25 exist.

This is a serious fine art photo print. A tribute to TIE / Jonathan Lim and a piece of graffiti history.

Instagram: Kept One