Arts and Design

100 hours behind the wheel with the lowriders of Los Angeles – photo essay


Since the first lowriders rolled out of Los Angeles more than 70 years ago, the ground-hugging, customized cars have served as mobile canvasses for vibrant self-expression, Mexican American pride, and cultural resistance.

The essence of that movement is captured by the photographer Kristin Bedford in her new book, Cruise Night, a collection of 75 color photos and interviews which she hopes will transport readers to the passenger seats of lowriders, allowing them to sense the nostalgia for a bygone era and glimpse the ways in which the cars remain woven into the fabric of everyday life.

woman sits on passenger side of brightly colored pink lowrider
Samantha, 2017. Photograph: Kristin Bedford
blue lowrider with woman's legs visible in front seat
Raquel, 2015. Photograph: Kristin Bedford

From 2014 to 2019, Bedford spent more than 100 hours riding the streets of Los Angeles county – still regarded as the mecca of lowriding – documenting intimate moments and collecting oral histories with lowriders who have been immersed in the scene since the 1950s.

“I was interested in showing how lowriders are integral to all aspects of life – funerals, weddings, quinceañeras and rites of passage. It’s not something that’s a hobby done on the weekend. It’s in their DNA, passed down from generation to generation,” Bedford said.

Woman stands outside car.
Yahaira, 2015. Photograph: Kristin Bedford
man in car seen from rear
Impala Drive-In, 2015. Photograph: Kristin Bedford

Lowriders date back to the postwar years of 1940s Los Angeles, when a booming Mexican American population met discrimination from white Angelenos – the tension from which ignited the Zoot suit riots of 1943. In the years that followed, lowriders would become associated with gangs and street crime, a perception that made them frequent targets of law enforcement. As the west coast rap scene exploded in the 1990s, the image of the lowrider that had become the centerpiece of its music videos spread across the globe.

chest with lowrider tattoos
Tatuaje, 2015. Photograph: Kristin Bedford
old photo album of old lowrider photos
Imperials, 2015. Photograph: Kristin Bedford

But Cruise Night is more than an homage to car culture, Bedford says. It’s also about the women who have been historically overlooked in the movement or portrayed as sexual accessories by the men who dominated the industry.

“It’s a misconception that it’s a male world. Women are, and always have been, an integral and natural part of lowriding, customizing their own cars and creating their own car clubs,” she said.

pink car interior with tape deck
Gypsy Rose, 2015. Photograph: Kristin Bedford

In one of Bedford’s favorite photos, the camera steals a glimpse of Mary as she moves windblown hair from her face riding in the backseat of her Chevy. Tattooed on her chest are the words “no soy de ti” – I don’t belong to you.

“While lowriding is so deeply rooted in community and family, it is also about fierce calls for respect and independence,” Bedford says.

woman brushes hair back. She has tattoo saying "No soy de ti"
No Soy De Ti/I Don’t Belong To You, 2018. Photograph: Kristin Bedford
woman in driver's seat of orange car
Lupita, 2015. Photograph: Kristin Bedford

“And that photo has that balance of quiet introspection mixed with this call for respect. It’s a woman saying, ‘I don’t belong to you.’ She’s going to have her own car and she’s going to cruise wherever she wants.”



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