The late 1960s and most of the 1970s were a difficult time for New York. I’d moved there from France in 1965 with a reporter friend and a plan to start a little agency, but soon found myself working alone. It could be a dangerous city, especially at night, but I enjoyed taking pictures of everyday life around me.
In 1969, I became the first foreign correspondent for the Paris-based Gamma Agency, but always insisted on working on personal projects rather than assignments. Reading the New York Times in 1972, I would see stories about gangs in the Bronx that were killing drug-pushers who targeted young people in the area. The police would find their bodies on the kerb at the bottom of five-storey buildings they’d been thrown off.
The gangs included the Savage Nomads and the Dirty Dozen, but the one I was most interested in was the most dangerous: the Savage Skulls. I didn’t want to go looking for them alone, so I drove with a French cameraman friend to Fox Street in the Hunts Point neighbourhood. As soon as we spotted members of the gang on the sidewalk, we stopped and wound down the window and they immediately came over wanting to know who we were.
When they realised we were French and didn’t want to interview them, they said: “If you want just to look at our life, you’re welcome.” We spent that afternoon with them, then I came back alone the following day. The gang showed me their territory: the basement where they had their club, played music and kept a lot of their weapons, and the sidewalks where Savage Skulls tags appeared on walls, doors and trash cans. They also spent a lot of time on a nearby basketball court.
They didn’t actually play basketball – they just fought all the time, play-fighting, like little cats. While on the court with them, I said: “OK, I’ll take a picture of you.” They immediately went over to the fence and got into the formation you see in the picture. I didn’t ask them to do that: it was completely spontaneous.
They were keen to show off the sleeveless denim vests they wore, with a skull and crossbones painted on the back. You can see here how young they were. I think the youngest member I photographed was 13 and none of them were much older than 20.
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