Steven Johnson, known as BLAZE, is an Oakland graffiti writer and the author of BLAZE: The Birth of Oakland Graffiti. He began writing BLAZE in 1983 after seeing Style Wars on PBS. His photo memoir brings together original period photographs, blackbook drawings and firsthand memories of Oakland and Berkeley's early graffiti scene from 1983 to 1990.
Works:
BLAZE: The Birth of Oakland Graffiti is a photo memoir of Oakland and Berkeley's original graffiti scene from 1983 to 1990. The book brings together historical photographs, blackbook artwork and personal memories for readers interested in graffiti, photography, hip-hop culture and East Bay history. The book uses AI generated, author edited text & illustration & cover art.
Purchase Link:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HNCK11QJ
Before the photographs became an archive, they were the record of a teenager learning to write his name across Oakland. BLAZE: The Birth of Oakland Graffiti is Steven Johnson’s firsthand account of writing graffiti in Oakland and the East Bay from 1983 to 1990. Inspired by seeing Style Wars on PBS, Johnson began a journey through letter styles, spray-can technique, black books, crews, and yards during a formative period of Bay Area graffiti. Built from surviving photographs, black-book artwork, and personal memories, the book follows his early experiments, the 23rd Yard years, and his later work in Berkeley. Along the way, Johnson reflects on the writers he knew, the pieces he painted, and what he sees differently decades later. This expanded second edition brings additional photographs and recollections into the story, preserving an individual artist’s view of a scene taking shape. For readers interested in graffiti, Oakland history, hip-hop culture, and photographic memoir, BLAZE offers a personal record of the places, friendships, and creative ambition behind the paint.
The walls changed. The photographs survived.
In the 1980s, Steven Johnson wrote BLAZE across Oakland and Berkeley. Decades later, surviving photographs, black-book drawings, and firsthand memories bring those years back into view.
BLAZE: The Birth of Oakland Graffiti follows one writer's experience of a scene taking shape: learning letter structure and spray-can control, finding a place on the walls, admiring other writers, and deciding when a piece worked.
At the 23rd Panels, he painted a block-letter BLAZE large enough to be seen from BART. At the Coliseum Yard, a snake drawn from a black-light poster became the L in his name. In his black book, letters folded, connected, and grew more complex.
Inside are historical photographs, sketches, and recollections of the places, people, and decisions behind the work, alongside later reunions and reflections. A separate, labeled section contains AI-generated or AI-assisted interpretations, distinguished from the historical material.
This is a personal account of the early East Bay graffiti scene, told by a writer who was there—for readers of graffiti, photography, hip-hop culture, and Oakland history.