Erwin Recinos [aka Los Ojos De Muerte] is a Los Angeles photojournalist who goes deep into the trenches of the city to document art and culture on a daily basis. His photos of cars and graffiti appear on a multitude of websites and he’s even self-published two books of his work in the same year – so he’s pretty prolific. And while on one hand it’s sad that we often don’t think about how cool our own time period was until we’re at a point where we can reflect back on it – it’s going to be because of awesome photographers like Erwin that we will actually have a fantastic history to look back upon. But the greatest part is that you don’t have to wait for that to happen, since you can follow his work now and always be in the know of what’s going on.
Photo from Paramount Corridor series
Daniel Rolnik: Do you use a film or a digital camera?
Erwin Recinos: I still shoot quite a bit of film for my private archive, but most of my photographs you see online are digital.
Photo from Paramount Corridor series
DR: When did you start documenting graffiti?
ER: I started documenting graffiti a couple years ago as a personal project, but then people started sharing my pictures on Flickr like crazy and I ended up getting connected with websites like LA Taco.
Excerpt from Candy Coated Vol. 2
DR: Do you also document any other kind of culture?
ER: I’ve been documenting lowrider car culture ever since I was a kid in South Gate. And I even published a book of my photos of lowriders that’s named Candy Coated.
Photo from Erwin’s studio visit w/ Vyal One for LA TACO
DR: Did you study photography in college?
ER: I originally got my degree from Brooks College for graphic design and then got a secondary degree in photography afterwards.
Photo from Erwin’s article on gallery hopping for LA TACO
DR: Who are two of your favorite photographers?
ER: Jae Bueno and Eriberto Oriol. Jae is pretty much the man when it comes to lowrider photos and Eriberto captures moments on the street like no one else.
Excerpt from Candy Coated Vol. 2
DR: Is photographing cars easy since they aren’t moving?
ER: You would think it is, but it’s not. You have to really look at every car and break it down into its parts, all while also covering the cultural aspect of the scene – which is huge. And it takes a while to really get the car owners to ease up to you too, since they often feel like you’re making money off of their hard work without understanding the level of skill it takes to make a car look good in a picture.
Photo from Metro Anonymous series
DR: Aren’t there a lot of gangs at lowrider shows?
ER: Whenever people think of lowrider culture, they also think of gangs, and that’s not what it’s all about. People don’t understand that when these guys do car shows, they’re not really doing it for themselves – they’re doing it for the community at large. You wouldn’t think a lot of them raise money for Cancer research, but they do – you just don’t hear about it because no one ever covers it on the news.
Excerpt from Candy Coated Vol. 1
DR: What’s something most people don’t know about the outskirts of Los Angeles, like the South Bay and Long Beach?
ER: There’s actually a great arts community in San Pedro, but a lot of people still don’t know about it. It’s more about lowbrow and tattoo art there as opposed to fine art like in the galleries of West LA. There’s also another whole art scene happening in Pomona on 2nd street.
Photo from Metro Anonymous series
DR: Do you think there’s going to an explosion one day of all this awesome art going on outside of LA?
ER: You wish there was, but there’s no way to tell. It’s still secluded and I don’t see a lot of the artists moving out to do shows in LA since most of them have day jobs in order to support their families. I actually wish some of the big LA artists would show in places like Long Beach, because it would mean a lot to the kids out there.
Photo from Erwin’s studio visit w/ Septerhed for LA TACO
DR: Ok, you’ve got to tell me about your daughter’s blackbook because it’s got signatures in it from every major street artist, right?
ER: Oh yeah, that’s been really interesting since she didn’t know what the heck it was until last year. She asked me Dad, what do I have this book for? And I said Well, you draw in it, but sometimes people also like to get other artists to draw in it too. So right away she got intrigued and wanted everyone to sign her book. And now most people say it’s a pretty great collection for a 7 year old.
Photo from Metro Anonymous series
DR: It’s an amazing collection for anyone! Aren’t SABER, RETNA, and SAND-ONE in there?
ER: Yeah, her first book is actually full and so she’s starting her second one now. The artists are usually taken aback because they don’t realize that kids as young as my daughter are interested in their art. And I’ve been really surprised when artists like Chaz Bojorquez come up to me and tell me how much they love what I’m doing for my daughter – it’s quite an honor for me and her.
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ERWIN RECINOS: http://www.flickr.com/photos/erwood/
DANIEL ROLNIK: http://argotandochre.com/2012/01/interview-with-malcolm-stuart/
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*NOTE: The topmost photo is from Candy Coated Volume 1 by Erwin Recinos
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[...] DAVID B. JANG: http://davidbjang.com DANIEL ROLNIK: http://argotandochre.com/2012/01/interview-with-erwin-recinos-aka-los-ojos-de-muerte/ [...]
[...] Erwin Recinos [aka Los Ojos De Muerte] is a Los Angeles photojournalist who goes deep into the trenches of the city to document art and culture on a daily basis. His photos of cars and graffiti appear on a multitude of websites and he’s even self-published two books of his work in the same year – so he’s pretty prolific. And while on one hand it’s sad that we often don’t think about how cool our own time period was until we’re at a point where we can reflect back on it – it’s going to be because of awesome photographers like Erwin that we will actually have a fantastic history to look back upon. But the greatest part is that you don’t have to wait for that to happen, since you can follow his work now and always be in the know of what’s going on. [...]
[...] DAVID B. JANG: http://davidbjang.com DANIEL ROLNIK: http://argotandochre.com [...]
[...] are the guys in the trenches, shooting all of our favorite pictures on the front lines. Congrats to Erwin Recinos, ReserveResult, Birdman, Brandon Shigeta, and Tom Andrews – we salute [...]