550BC
ONCE UPON A HOOD
Details
CALIFORNIA GANG LIFE IN VINTAGE PHOTOGRAPHS
This photobook presents a rare archive of over 1,000 analog photographs and Polaroids spanning from the 1970s to the early 2000s, carefully edited down to a selection of 193 images and newly scanned for preservation and print. Taken inside California prisons and across everyday life, these photographs document gang identity, relationships, and survival through portraits, group shots, family pictures, and handwritten messages never meant for public view.
Collected over decades and resurfacing through confiscations, raids, and auctions, the images trace the visual language of street and prison culture: tattoos, gestures, fashion, pride, loss, love, and loyalty. Lovers, homies, children, and relatives appear alongside symbols of affiliation and belonging.
Once private keepsakes passed hand to hand, these photographs now exist as powerful historical artifacts. Preserved here in their original form, they offer a raw, intimate, and deeply human record of lives rarely seen on their own terms.
If you recognize yourself or a loved one in any of these photos, please write to info@550bc.com
Features
March 2026
First Edition of 650
Hardcover faux-leather bound with acrylic surface treatment, foil-pressed texts and a tip-in photo
112 pages, 193 images
ISBN: 978-90-835156-7-0
Size Chart
Free Size
30 cm x 23 cm
