published on May 16, 2024 in post

Tales from the hood: LAs street gang culture in pictures | Culture

Tales from the hood: LA’s street gang culture – in pictures

Merrick Morton has been documenting gangs in Los Angeles for more than 20 years. Collected in Clique: West Coast Portraits from the Hood, and published by Hat and Beard Press, his distinctive style provides an understanding of marginalised communities, often ignored or shown in crude stereotypes

Sarah Gilbert

Main image: Gang members in Los Angeles

Fri 24 Nov 2023 09.00 GMT Last modified on Fri 24 Nov 2023 20.54 GMT

Mumbles from the Rollin 60s gang being arrested on a search warrant, Los Angeles, mid-1980s Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
Four homegirls, known as ‘Cholas’, San Diego, 1981 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
Two gang members; and a Rollin 20s Blood waits to testify in a murder case at the LA District Attorney’s Office, 1981 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
A Chicana ‘Chola’ detained in the rear seat of a police cruiser, San Diego, 1983 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
Quinceañera – the celebration of a girl’s 15th birthday, marking her passage from girlhood to womanhood. 18th Street, Los Angeles, 1981 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
Officers from the LAPD doing field interviews in the projects, Los Angeles, 1988 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
Homeboys and their guns Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
Initiation of young man for membership of the the Sons of Samoa, a Crips-affiliated gang in Long Beach, 1985 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
Two homeboys from the One Ways, Los Angeles County, 2023 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
Gang members line up waiting to be searched for weapons by the LA County Sheriff Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
Gang member Mark with his mother in Venice Beach, 1988. Mark’s killing four years later resulted in a major gang race war in west Los Angeles Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
Aftermath of a gang shooting in Los Angeles, mid-1980s Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
Valentina. Los Angeles, 2022 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
A young gang member throwing signs Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Topics

Culture

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaJulocG2vsRonpqknJq%2FunuRaWlsZ56kw3B%2Bk2irmqSVqHqnvs6mZK2glWK1sLvDZqOaq12owbOxxK1koJmenHqkwcutrKudXZ67brzInKuuqpWo