"Autorretrato en sombra" depicts a self-portrait in which Iturbide shows her shadow holding a camera, projected onto graffiti-covered ground in East Los Angeles. The photo reflects her role as an observer present within the environment she documents—both inside and outside the scene. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times (2017), Iturbide mentioned her interest in photographing cholos, highlighting their Mexican roots and marginalization. Living among them, she saw the tension—gangs like White Fence and Maravilla gathering at night in parks, maintaining a delicate peace “like a cold war.” However, she recalled the atmosphere as tense and dangerous: “You’d be taking a picture, and then you’d hear the sound of a gun being cocked.” Her shadow quietly witnesses this complex and dangerous world.