Remembering the 'indie sleaze' era through archive imagery 📸
If decades are recognisable by their colour palettes, then the 2000s were unmistakably neon. Plastic sunglasses, trucker caps and a reliance on American Apparel’s comfy staples have now passed into cheerful nostalgia, and photographerOn the raucous LA party scene, Hunter was a shy teenage photographer, who along with his friend, Steve Aoki, became integral to the city’s nightlife. Aoki DJ’ed, Hunter documented, and together they promoted parties and thesite where Hunter posted pictures.
Here, in his own words, Hunter reflects on documenting a decade of partying hard, and how he learned to work rooms full of celebrities.“I studied photography in high school. I was going to a lot of gigs, then I thought: wouldn’t it be fun to document the rock show? I started shooting bands in clubs, getting invited to afterparties and shooting them too. I used the energy of the music scene to fuel The Cobrasnake [website].
“Steve Aoki, Frankie Chan and I put on weekly parties. It was cigarette smoke, a bunch of sweaty people, sticky floors, beer spilling everywhere, and Sparks – a pungent Redbull-type energy drink containing alcohol that got banned pretty fast. It was the era of Blog House and Nu Rave; rock music mixed with electro; Fischerspooner, Peaches, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Franz Ferdinand. More recently dubbed Indie Sleaze, which is pretty accurate.
“The book is a roll call of that era: Gwen Stefani, already in the second phase of her career; Andre 3000; artist Shepard Fairey, my hero in the art world, who I assisted; Chloë Sevigny; Katy Perry and Ke$ha were both starting out; a pre-fame Lady Gaga in jeans and a tank top; Drake; Jeremy Scott, who was another member of our circle. Kanye West was obsessed by fashion and wanted to be part of it.
“An important influence was Patrick McMullan, a photographer from Studio 54 who was still working in the 2000s. I’d studied his book, how he captured people and wanted to replicate that. I’d watch him in action at parties and how he worked the room, putting people at ease before he’d shoot them. There’s an art to it, it helps to be a people person in this industry. Being friendly and positive has always worked for me – looking for the silver lining in everything.
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