© Candy Kennedy

We had our situations–we were almost held up by gun point, were probably close to being killed, and were questioned by police officials but I can’t say we had any bad memories at all! We loved this project so much, it was so exciting. There was so much adrenaline that at the end of the project we were all a little sad to be returning. I do have one really bad memory– having to use the dirtiest restrooms continuously…not cool when you’re pregnant! But I was doing what I love doing most so it was definitely worth it. This is definitely the biggest project I’ve done thus far and I am very satisfied with the results.

Tell us about the female gangsters.

I had been asked by Marie Claire magazine to photograph a few female gangsters for an article they wanted to do, so I made it my mission to get hold of a few women. I was also curious to know how they handled being in a gang and how the men treated them. The first woman I met was a huge, butch, short-haired gangster with a few tattoos that her boyfriend had done for her. She was a member of the 28s. She said she was treated equally to the men in the gang, and that often the females are tougher than the men because they feel the need to prove themselves more than men do. Most of them stole, drank copious amounts of alcohol, had beaten and stabbed a handful of people, mostly men, some were prostitutes.