In words by Graciela Iturbide, "in 1986, I was invited to contribute to a publication titled A Day in the Life of America [1987], which featured work by 100 photographers. I wanted to do something that related to Mexicans and the idea of the American dream. A friend of mine, who is a Chicana painter, took me to meet these women, who are all deaf and who belong to a gang in East LA. I stayed at their homes for two days and I photographed everything. There were so many tensions between the gangs; it was very dangerous. But I stayed in contact with them over the years, and I even returned to photograph them several times. In fact, one subject, who was a baby in the early photographs, I also photographed as an adult. They are still my friends, and they still send me photos." "Graciela Iturbide on the Democratic Nature of Photography," Charlotte Jansen AND Graciela Iturbide in Interviews | 05 MAY 22, Frieze magazine