Mods, Skins & Lowriders

LATE ONE BALMY August night in 2016, Owen Harvey stood outside Manhattan’s Bryant Park, nervously awaiting an encounter that would determine the next three months. Back in England, the photographer had spent the previous five years documenting two stylish subcultures – mods and skinheads – that exist outside of time. It had taken countless hours of developing contacts, earning trust and spending all his money on film. Now he was trying to pull off something similar in America via the Lunatic Lowriders: a heavily tattooed community built around cruising vintage cars.

But after saving up to fly over – the 26-yearold’s first major trip abroad – they hadn’t returned his calls until two weeks in, when he was directed towards midtown Manhattan at the last minute. An hour of waiting went by. It started to feel like it wasn’t meant to be, that maybe he had finally overreached.

Then he heard a rumble in the distance. A convoy of tricked-out convertibles snaked its way toward him, a blaring PA system spread across the backseat of one car. “We just cruised around the whole of Manhattan until three in the morning,