Full Breakdown
Jean-Pierre Laffont’s 1970s Bronx Portraits of the Savage Skulls
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Event: Photographing a Bronx Street Gang
In the early 1970s French-born photojournalist Jean-Pierre Laffont entered the Bronx to document the Savage Skulls, a gang he described as the most dangerous among groups such as the Savage Nomads and the Dirty Dozen. After an initial encounter on Fox Street in Hunts Point, Laffont spent an afternoon with the members, then returned alone the next day to capture an iconic image of the gang standing beside a fence. The youths did not pose on request. Their attire consisted of sleeveless denim vests emblazoned with a skull-and-crossbones motif. The youngest member he photographed was 13; none appeared older than 20.
Background & Context: New York City, 1965-1972
Laffont arrived in New York in 1965 with a reporter friend, intending to launch a small agency. By 1969 he was the first foreign correspondent for the Paris-based Gamma Agency, yet he consistently prioritized personal projects. The city then faced fiscal collapse, frequent strikes, unreliable subways, and a garbage-collection crisis. He gained access to the Bronx by collaborating with the sanitation department, photographing crews during a city-wide clean-up campaign.
On-the-Ground Report: Interaction with the Savage Skulls
Accompanied by a French cameraman, Laffont stopped on Fox Street after spotting several gang members. The youths approached, asked who they were, and, upon learning they were French, invited him to observe their lives. They showed him their underground club, a basement where music played and weapons were stored, and the graffiti-covered sidewalks marking their territory. On a nearby basketball court the gang engaged in constant “play-fighting,” which Laffont likened to “little cats.” Communication occurred in broken English; the members, primarily Puerto Rican, spoke Spanish among themselves. Laffont observed an exchange of firearms and noted that the gang’s leader was recovering in hospital after a gunshot wound.
Official Statements & Responses
When Laffont informed the police about his project, officers warned they could not provide protection. On one occasion a patrol car halted near the gang’s basement, and Laffont photographed officers conversing with the youths inside the club. The police statement acknowledged the gang’s presence but offered no safety guarantee for the photographer.
Data & Statistics
- Year of first encounter: early 1972 (as indicated by Laffont’s reference to the *New York Times* that year).
- Age range of photographed members: 13 – 20 years old.
- Gang composition: predominantly Puerto Rican, communicating primarily in Spanish.
- Number of documented photographs: multiple images featuring the same individuals, including at least one that later identified a woman whose mother had recently died.
Why It Matters: Legacy and Reflection
Decades after the shoot, a woman contacted Laffont to request a copy of a photograph that included her mother, who had died the day before the call. Laffont provided large prints for the funeral, showing how his documentation preserved personal histories that might otherwise have been lost. He reflected that the youths he photographed in 1972 are no longer children, emphasizing the passage of time and the enduring relevance of visual journalism. His Bronx work remains a vivid record of a turbulent era in New York’s urban landscape and a testament to on-the-ground visual storytelling.
