There are certain aspects of American life the rest of the world tries to replicate, and will always fall short. But we're not here to get into an argument about hip hop culture, or the fact that their President has more charisma in his pinky than our PM does all over, or whether kale is a waste of space.
We're here to appreciate the lowrider.
Way back in 1950s Los Angeles, Mexican-Americans started modifying their cars to be able to alter their height by simply flicking a switch. The aim was to cruise, and "low and slow" or "bajito y suavecito" became the motto of lowriding. These cars eventually became intrinsically tied to hip hop culture of LA as well as, less favourably, gang culture.
Trevor Traynor has dedicated a bunch of time to photographing lowrider culture – the cars and the enthusiasts. The images are striking and shows the vehicles for the works of art they are, instead of the cliches they are often tied to.
We also suggest you listen to this while you scroll through the gallery. You'll either feel extremely pimpish or extremely white.
More at
trevortraynor.com. And here is an article about lowriding culture:
nytimes.com.