11/07/2025
Dive into our profile of Estevan Oriol, the photographer who’s been capturing LA’s underground for three decades, from lowrider culture to gang life, all through his signature black and white film aesthetic. Beyond the streets of his hometown, Oriol has traveled to 56 countries and photographed everywhere from celebrity hangouts to a Taliban prison in Afghanistan. “Everybody wants to know about the underground cultures that they aren’t around,” he explains. “Everybody wants to know about the unknown.”
In this feature, Eileen Havant Townsend examines how Oriol’s intimate approach to photography creates unexpected beauty and challenges our perceptions of memory, history, and America’s forever wars.
Read the full story in our new issue, available now for free at select galleries, and for sale at newsstands and bookstores!
