ONCE UPON A HOOD

March 2026First Edition of 650Hardcover faux-leather bound with acrylic surface treatment, foil-pressed texts and a tip-in photo112 pages, 193 imagesDimensions: 30 x 23 cmISBN: 978-90-835156-7-0 Make sure to select the right cover in the menu before checkout. We are unable to change covers once you've placed your order. CALIFORNIA GANG LIFE IN VINTAGE PHOTOGRAPHSThis 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