ALBUQUERQUE — Armed with a Sony camera, Gabriela Campos lowered herself to the sidewalk as the candy red ’59 Chevy Impala glided to a standstill on Central Avenue, embarking on a long run of hops and undulations with its hydraulic suspension pulling hard.

The cruise was on, and Campos was out chasing cars on Central again on a recent Sunday, shifting the lens for a shot in the day’s final light. Mesmerizing, chrome hypnotic and upholstery speckless, the vehicles rolled before the Kimo Theatre, cool and defiant street royalty, a Bel Air with an imitation fox tail swinging from the mirror in the urban desert wind.

Late last month was a major career moment for the New Mexican photographer, who has become known in recent years for her intimate photography of lowriders and the culture surro

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