Looking for pics on la streetlife and gang culture. (neighborhoods, school)

[JAMIEEE666]

Hi, i live in glasgow, u.k. Im a art student and doing a project on la streetlife, im looking for pictures of gang members or general street photography from la. I would really appreciate any pictures people could post to help me. Thanks

[timelesschild]

There is no shortage of this material on the internet.

[Green Irish Eyes]

There's an entire thread of pictures HERE. I'm sure you can find something useful.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Just do Google images searches on "cholo" or "east la".

[Mike121]

Sigh. This type of art always seems a little bit like exploitation to me. I don't know the original poster or where s/he's from or what the intentions are. So I could be way off base. But usually such projects are about people of privileged backgrounds recycling images of other cultures that they feel are exotic or dangerous without really understanding who their subjects are.

American artists do this all the time, of course. They go to places that seem poor, exotic and dangerous and repackage those images so that they can make money without understanding what they've seen. In the art school lingo, it is "poverty porn".

I'm not saying that East LA, South LA or city life isn't a worthy topic for art. It is just that when you throw up images without any context or understanding, you just end up reinforcing old stereotypes.

[katenik]

Originally Posted by Mike121

Sigh. This type of art always seems a little bit like exploitation to me. I don't know the original poster or where s/he's from or what the intentions are. So I could be way off base. But usually such projects are about people of privileged backgrounds recycling images of other cultures that they feel are exotic or dangerous without really understanding who their subjects are.

American artists do this all the time, of course. They go to places that seem poor, exotic and dangerous and repackage those images so that they can make money without understanding what they've seen. In the art school lingo, it is "poverty porn".

I'm not saying that East LA, South LA or city life isn't a worthy topic for art. It is just that when you throw up images without any context or understanding, you just end up reinforcing old stereotypes.

i wouldn't go that far, but i do wonder about an artist creating a "street life" project in which the subject streets have never actually been traversed by said artist, and the photographs are pilfered from the internet. doesn't seem very "authentic" to me...and isn't that what artists are always going on about, authenticity?

[the one]

not very authentic, not very original, not very edgey.

been there done that.

and i think soem people have seen "colors" one too many times.

[fatmancomics]

Meh. To me it's no worse than the "genuine" articles who glorify gang life and make money off of it. Like the guy who came up with the "cholos" figures or Lowrider Magazine. It, not only perpetuates the stereotypes, it makes the young ones living in those neighborhoods aspire to immitate it instead of being individuals. I grew up in downtown L.A. right next to Whitmer Ave. and it was a culture that I never wanted to become a part of.

[JAMIEEE666]

Was just looking for a bit of help here, comparing glasgow's street life and gang culture to los angeles.

[King0fthehill]

prettyugly.

Don't use any of my photos, though.