In 1972 Danny Lyon went to El Paso to document the environmental disaster that had occurred in this region after a long period of neglect during the 1960s. More specifically, he had covered El Segundo Barrio, the poorest neighborhood of the city and one of the poorest in the United States throughout the 20th century. In this series, the objective was to show why, according to the photographer, El Segundo had nevertheless survived all this misery. For Danny Lyon, it was the passionate and intense youth of the neighborhood that had helped keep hope alive. Proud and spontaneous, like rough diamonds, these young people had survived dilapidated buildings, sadly deserted streets and extreme living conditions.