Preserving your roots
Born and raised in East Los Angeles, photographer Jeffrey Mercado still has a strong attachment to the area and works to preserve its history through various visual mediums.
Currently, Mercado is working on a street photography project in Boyle Heights to document the changing demographics caused by gentrification. While on assignment, he ran into a group of “ energetic skater kids” who Mercado says were very eager to have their picture taken and joked that “he was making them famous.”.
This young man caught Mercado’s eye. “I remember commenting to him that he was probably half my age but had twice the “bigote”. (Bigote is Spanish for “mustache.” )
The image was made with a Canon 7d on a 50mm 1.4 lens and processed later with VSCO cam app and a basic B&W filter.
Were you raised in Southern California? Share photos from your hometown. Tag and/or follow Trishna Patel on Twitter and Instagram @trishlistLA for a chance to be featured.
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