Daniel Fernandez’s inaugural imaging project, Fire Drive, emerges as a poignant visual ethnography that interrogates the confluence of memory, identity, and socio-cultural dynamics within rural Northern California.

Employing a photojournalistic methodology, Daniel Fernandez revisits his formative experiences within the skateboarding subculture, a milieu that has profoundly influenced his personal viewpoints. The series is characterized by its grayscale compositions, displaying the ephemeral moments and intimate interactions of young skateboarders. The project does not display skateboarding as the centerpiece, but acts as the common factor for its own role as a communal ritual that fosters poetic utterance and personal discourse.

Fire Drive serves as a critical commentary on the Hispanic demographic within rural towns, highlighting the intersectionality of race, class, and geography. By foregrounding the lived experiences of Hispanic youth in these communities, there is a challenge displayed towards prevailing narratives and underscores the significance of subcultural spaces in the negotiation of identity and agency. In its entirety, Fire Drive constitutes a reflective inquiry into the socio-cultural customs of rural America, offering insights into the complexities of youth culture, memory, and identity formation.