550BC - CUATRO LETRAS

October 2025
First Edition of 550
204 pages, 170 images
Dimensions: 21 x 28 cm
ISBN: 978-90-835156-6-2

THE FIRST EVER PHOTO BOOK ON THE CJNG. 

Cuatro Letras is a rare look inside the CJNG (Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación), built from two perspectives that rarely meet. On the ground, Juan José Estrada Serafín, the only fixer to secure media access to the group, risked his life in a series of attempts, failed handoffs, and tense encounters to bring back images and artifacts from cartel territory. In parallel, Pouria Khojastehpay gathered and organized the cartel’s self-produced social media presence, creating a living archive of its visual identity.

Together, their work forms a contemporary narrative of how one of the world’s most powerful cartels performs power through uniforms, symbols, vehicles, and spectacle.

Includes a field story essay by Keegan Hamilton. One of the journalists who received media access through Serafín in the past.