Bronia Stewart’s Mexico City

The London-based photographer Bronia Stewart is best known for her series “Babe Station”—a behind-the-scenes look at an adult-television channel and phone-sex hotline. Seeking out subcultures is a welcome challenge for Stewart, who told me, “one of my objectives is to make projects in communities that are hard to infiltrate, are challenging, and where gaining trust is imperative.” Stewart recently turned her camera to the Mexico City gang culture, and, after immersing herself with one gang on the outskirts of the city for a number of weeks, came away with “Pepe,” a series of photographs—now also a book—chronicling the pastimes of gang members and their extended families.

“I found Pepe and his gang hanging around outside his convenience store in Chalco, a town on the outskirts of the city,” Stewart said. “They agreed to let me take photos, and then we spent the following weeks together.” Stewart conceded that the risks involved sometimes limited the project. “There were lots of missed opportunities and times I wanted to shoot but was told not to. There were also problems with rival gangs, and this meant that, during a period while I was there, some of the gang members went into hiding, and I couldn’t take photos with them. During this time, I got to know Pepe better and spent time with his family.”