Miguel Valencia

By late 2020, I had begun to really make an impact within the neighborhood. I was drawing attention because of the type of figures I was photographing. Many of them I met on my own, some through mutual acquaintances. I was working on some material for Shelltown when I was introduced to a few well known heads from “Gamma Boys.” One of the originals (shout out to “T”) from this session asked everyone if they were okay with what I was about to do. I also had to explain the purpose of my work — what I was trying to accomplish. Once there was an agreement among the participants, I began to do my thing. The resulting photographs would become some of my most well known work.

Shelltown

By late 2020, I had begun to really make an impact within the neighborhood. I was drawing attention because of the type of figures I was photographing. Many of them I met on my own, some through mutual acquaintances. I was working on some material for Shelltown when I was introduced to a few well known heads from “Gamma Boys.”

Photograph by Miguel Valencia

One of the originals (shout out to “T”) from this session asked everyone if they were okay with what I was about to do. I also had to explain the purpose of my work — what I was trying to accomplish. Once there was an agreement among the participants, I began to do my thing. The resulting photographs would become some of my most well known work.

Bio: When I was a little kid, the sounds I would hear outside, the things I would watch happen through screen doors, and the steps I took on those sidewalks — they did something to me. For whatever reason, I have done dangerous stuff all my life — taken chances for what I want or believe in, no matter what it took from me. I am not just like everybody else; my lifestyle is very different. So these subjects that I photograph, that I affiliate with, these hands that I shake are no different from what I am accustomed to.

My photographs are gang-related. These pictures do not just display the neighborhood as it is. They also illustrate how I remember coming up as a kid, the things that have always been around me — from my own family and their neighborhood ties, to my own personal life. From the dope fiends slumped over, blowing puffy clouds of methamphetamine, to the sounds of 808 bass that engulf the neighborhood blocks, to the names hit up on the walls of those who live on forever in the minds of those who still remember — both older and younger.

My photos make up a body of work that breathes and lives from beneath and above the soil, images both past and present from the other side of San Diego. This environment built me into who I am and prepared me for what I do; a place where it’s not just about the beaches or “Taco Tuesday,” but about the lifestyle within the communities that endure there.

Project Overview: These photos are my documentary, a body of work I have been creating since 2017 about the lifestyle in gangs and the surrounding street elements. They are my attempt to portray the community in a truthful fashion: from the neighborhood, to community shots, to the drug epidemic.

Shooting these pictures could become very dicey — things such as enemies pulling up. But over time, I have developed a reputation for what I do, and that has led to my being introduced to some of San Diego’s most prominent gang figures. This project is currently being developed in New York into a book, which will be published soon.