a.k.a. BOOBOO

"I had a teradrop tattoed under my eye for all my lost homeboys and homegirls. A teardrop is from the heart. We've all lost someone or something in life. It's like wearing your pain on your face, but at the same time you're not letting your emotions out, they're on the inside."

-Cindy Martinez. a.k.a. BOOBOO

The overtly aestheticized “Vida Loca” has been a rich and attractive subject matter for photographers. Its fashion, tattoos, cars, music and culture in general give visibility to an otherwise invisible and disenfranchised inner city population. Cholos are models that pose to be seen and mark their territory. Their image seduces a marginalized youth and also Hollywood, the media, artists and an audience hungry for the spectacle of violence too. There are fantastic photographs of pachucos by Max Yavno, of home girls by Graciela Iturbide and of vatos by José Galvez. In fact the homies also make quite unique pictures and publish them in “Teen Angels” magazine. Photojournalists often make the most predictable, generic and stereotypical images of gangsters. East Side Stories by Joseph Rodriguez confirms the original mythology following the usual script more faithfully than any Hollywood film. Robert Yager has already documented all the expected territory and in fact has gone quite beyond.

A & I just published a.k.a. BOOBOO by Robert Yager. Going from the general to the specific Robert makes a portrait of Cindy Martinez more known as Boo Boo. The book drifts from the usual images in order to reveal a complex fifteen-year history of struggle inside and out of the gang. It is a story of motherhood, adaptation and survival. Yager states: “her story is more complex than my photos can show. They merely provide a window into her life.” Social documentary practices make less seducing pictures than the theatrical documentation of hand signs, weapons and cholo performance. This essay proves that moving beyond that spectacle has proven to be as difficult for photographers as for gang members. The book comes with a compelling introduction by legendary father Gregory Boyle. A portion of the book goes to Homeboy Industries.