Estevan Oriol

In his black-and-white celebrity portraits and raw snapshots of urban life, Estevan Oriol contrasts the glamour and edge of early aughts Los Angeles and its Latinx lowrider and tattoo subcultures. Oriol started his career as a club bouncer-turned-manager for LA rap groups Cypress Hill and House of Pain.

He began documenting the emerging hip-hop scene in photography while on tour s. His images have been featured in Juxtapoz, GQ, Vibe, and Rolling Stone, and he has subsequently photographed a wide swath of athletes, musicians, and Hollywood A-listers including Al Pacino, Dennis Hopper, Floyd Mayweather, and Kim Kardashian. He also directed music videos for Eminem, Snoop Dog, and Blink-182. Oriol’s iconic photograph L.A. Fingers (1995)—which depicts a woman’s ring-clad fingers forming the letters “L” and “A“—was once dismissed for its assumed nod to gang signs, but has since come to epitomize LosAngeles culture.