Cholo basically refers to the Mexican gangster-type—the guys in the baggy pants, the bandannas pulled low over their eyebrows, with lots of tattoos, rosary beads and Virgin of Guadalupe imagery.

Cholos, along with skatos (skaters) and punks, are the subject of an awesome exhibit of photos by Federico Gama up at the Alianza Francesa in Polanco. The show, called Top Models Mazahuacholoskatopunk, documents the various youth subcultures that have risen up in the last 5-10 years among the rural indigenous Mexican kids who move to the capital for work and adopt new urban styles and trends that are completely different from the kids that are from here.

Gama's interest is in the hybrid identities the kids create and how their look reflects both their indigenous roots and their modern city life. (The bandannas, for example, are a symbol of their families' campesino roots working in the fields).

But the exhibition isn't just a photo-fashion show. It also marks the first time this marginalized migrant society is presented (photographically) as an interesting and valuable subculture that breathes its own energy into Mexico City.

"Top Models Mazahuacholoskatopunk" is up through December at the Alianza Francesa in Polanco.