Nathaniel Tetsuro Paolinelli

Catalog

A young girl with sugar skull face paint stands in front of a lowrider car with its front end lifted high, illuminated by purple underglow lights in this Seventh and Central piece by Nathaniel Paolinelli.
A tattooed man in a suit and fedora tips the brim of his hat in this Nathaniel Paolinelli photography portrait.
A blonde woman with heavy makeup and tattooed arms sits in the driver’s seat of a car near Seventh and Central.
Two customized pickup trucks with their truck beds raised vertically drive down Seventh and Central during an art parade.
A custom purple pickup truck with intricate airbrushed designs drives past a tire shop at Seventh and Central during a vibrant sunset.
A shirtless man with extensive chest and arm tattoos, captured in the style of Nathaniel Paolinelli, wears an eye patch and a religious pendant necklace.
Back view of a person with a large Nathaniel Paolinelli tattoo of the Virgin of Guadalupe on their upper back and additional tattoos on their arms.
A group of men tilt a lowrider car onto its side during a Seventh and Central car show in this piece of fine art photography.
A group of men with their dogs and a young child pose near a red car as one man reaches out to take a phone, in a scene captured by Seventh and Central photographer Nathaniel Paolinelli.
A man sits on the door of a lowrider tilted high on its suspension to take a photo, captured in this Nathaniel Paolinelli fine art photograph.
A tattooed woman in a striped crop top and denim shorts poses beside a classic Chevrolet Super Sport lowrider in a Seventh and Central car show photograph by Nathaniel Paolinelli.
A classic red Chevrolet parked in front of a vintage Padilla’s Automotive sign at sunset, captured in the style of Nathaniel Paolinelli.
A classic red lowrider with gold wire wheels cruises past a crowd at night near a concert marquee, captured in the style of Nathaniel Paolinelli’s Seventh and Central fine art photography.
Four people posing for a photo in front of a wooden fence at a residence in a Seventh and Central fine art photography style.
A man in a white t-shirt exhales a cloud of smoke while riding a custom lowrider bicycle with gold-spoked wheels in this fine art photography piece.
A woman with long black hair sits in the driver’s seat of a car with fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror, in a photography style reminiscent of Nathaniel Paolinelli.

Nathaniel Tetsuro Paolinelli

Born: 1976, Location

Biography and Information

Biography
Every Sunday along Central Avenue (Albuquerque’s local stretch of Route 66), tricked-out cars and their immaculately dressed owners gather to participate in one of New Mexico’s most iconic cultural art forms: lowriding. Since 2017, Nathaniel Tetsuro Paolinelli has been photographing the lowrider community, creating bold portraits that focus on the people behind (and in) the cars. His images are rich with detail—fine tailoring, acrylic nails, fuzzy dice, chrome rims—and shot through with the human tenderness of his subjects.

“For many, lowrider culture starts at birth. Newborns go cruising with their parents, growing up immersed in the scene. …Traditions and customs are passed down, just like the cars themselves, from one generation to the next. ” —Nathaniel Tetsuro Paolinelli

Nathaniel Tetsuro Paolinelli (b. 1976) is a documentary photographer of Japanese and Italian heritage based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His work is in the collection of the Albuquerque Museum and has been shown at 516 ARTS, the El Paso Museum of Archaeology, the Albuquerque Museum, and Black Box Gallery in Portland, OR, among others. His book, Seventh and Central: Lowriders, was published this year by University of New Mexico Press.

Education
Please contact the gallery for this information.

Solo Exhibitions
2026
Seventh and Central, Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque, NM

2025
Expo New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM

2024
Naonian Tattoo & Motos Expo, Pordenone, Italy

2022
516 Arts, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Group Exhibitions
2026
The Other Route 66: 100 Years of People, Identity, and Place in Albuquerque, Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, NM
Global Perspectives, F16 Gallery, Osaka, Japan
Beaded, Powerful Patterns of Color and Design, El Paso Museum of Archaeology, El Paso, TX
Sunday on Central Avenue, Civic Plaza, Albuquerque, NM
Centennial Roots, Route 66 Visitors Center, Albuquerque, NM
Nuestra, Secret Gallery, Albuquerque, NM

2022
Black Box Gallery, Portland, Oregon

Collections
Albuquerque Museum Permanent Collection, Albuquerque, NM

Press

2026
Mia Casas, New book showcases Albuquerque’s vibrant lowrider culture, KUNM, Feb 12
Lee Halvorsen, Nathaniel Tetsuro Paolinelli — Seventh and Central, New Mexico Lowriders, The Photobook Journal, Feb. 23
Photographer Nathaniel Tetsuro Paolinelli Captures the Humans Behind the Hydraulics in Seventh & Central: Lowriders, The Paper., Mar 11
Ania Hull, Photographer Nathaniel Tetsuro Paolinelli Finds Focus Among Albuquerque's Lowrider Culture, Pasatiempo, Mar. 20
Nathaniel Tetsuro Paolinelli, Take a Little Trip Through Lowrider Culture, New Mexico Magazine, May 13
Feature: 60-Second Exposure, Black and White Magazine, July Issue
Eric Green, New Mexico photographer celebrates lowrider culture in new book, KOAT Action 7 News, Jul. 25
Bill Shapiro, Six New Mexico Photographers to Know Now, New Mexico Magazine, Sept. 9
Ashley Riffo, Nathaniel Paolinelli: Making Photos, Making Friends, Street Photography Magazine, Issue 174, Oct. 4
Monika Dziamka, Meet Nathaniel Tetsuro Paolinelli, Photographer, Visit Albuquerque

2025
Steve Gleydura, The New Mexico State Fair brings people together year after year. Photographer Nathaniel Tetsuro Paolinelli has been there to capture it all, New Mexico Magazine, Sept. 3

2023
Street Photographer, Nathaniel Tetsuro Paolinelli, PBS ¡COLORES! Season 29, Episode 7, Oct. 7

2022
Christina Elia, Photographing the vibrant subcultures of downtown Albuquerque, i-D, July 28
Lowrider + Personal Work, Leica Fotografie International, Feb. 17
Adrian Gomez, Searching for Beauty, Albuquerque Journal, 2022