Hecho en barrio

Hecho en barrio is a long-term photographic project begun in 2007 by Jean-Félix Fayolle on young people living in working-class neighbourhoods in Mexico, mainly in the city of San Luis Potosí, capital of the state of the same name. This conurbation of 2 million inhabitants is located in the centre-north of the country 400 kilometres north of Mexico City.
Jean-Félix Fayolle studied international business and foreign languages and spent a year as an exchange student in San Luis Potosí in 2006-2007 to complete his degree. Somewhat by chance, he settled in the working-class neighbourhood of Pavón, on the outskirts of the Potosina capital, preferring this atmosphere to the aseptic one of the posh districts behind their high walls and barbed wire.
He began meeting gangs, befriending them and photographing them, then alternated stays in France and Mexico to continue his work. Over time, he witnessed the explosion of violence and insecurity linked to drug trafficking, as well as the ravages of drugs, particularly crystal meth, on these fragile lives.