El Paso 1972


by Michael Satterfield

In the Summer of 1972 photographer, Danny Lyon traveled to El Paso Texas to photograph the Spanish-Speaking Section of the city, the Second Ward. These images were taken as part of Project DOCUMERICA which was funded by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Lyon was most noted for his work photographing the Civil Rights Movement as the principal photographer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Later, Lyon began creating his own books. His first was a study of outlaw motorcyclists in the collection The Bikeriders (1968), where Lyon did more than just photograph motorcyclists in the American Midwest from 1963 to 1967. Additionally, he also became a member of the Chicago Outlaws motorcycle club and traveled with them, sharing their lifestyle. According to Lyon himself, the photographs were "an attempt to record and glorify the life of the American bikerider." The series was immensely popular and influential in the 1960s and 1970s.

Enjoy these amazing photos which take us back to a different time...