Thoughts

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What is counter culture

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I think being counter culture nowadays means creating instead of consuming.

We all know America (and the world) is a culture of consumers. On a large scale, we take the natural resources of the planet and convert them into products that consumers (us) buy. There’s a reason when we talk about the economy, we citizens are called “consumers” because we are literally consuming the resources of the planet that we’ve turned into products.

But consuming not only happens when you buy something. You scroll TikTok, you consume. You scroll IG, you consume. Twitter, Reddit, SnapChat, the internet as a whole. It’s short bits of entertainment meant to be easily consumable that you digest for half a second, forget about, and then move on.

This theme of everyone living their lives by purely consuming and not creating is something we’ve seen in movies like Wall-E and Idiocracy. (And in both those films the citizens had to learn to create again to regain their humanity.)

The system itself, is designed for consuming. So counter culture then, must be creating.

Being counter culture, to me, means creating art. (And not with the intention to become famous or make money.) Making art purely for the sake of making art. You don’t just sit around and think of yourself and what other people will think of you, you get up and create something. You take risks, you experiment. You don’t just spend your days consuming.

Just something to think about.

Till next time,

-Oliver Endahl

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If the internet was different

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If Instagram and TikTok didn’t exist, would people still “create”?

Whether people want to admit or not, the thought that nearly everyone has kept in the back of their mind while on a photoshoot for the last 15 years is “Will this do well on social media?”

If you’re a model, photographer, dancer, actor, baker, etc.. Would you still create if you couldn’t post it to a social network? I’ve met many people who were only at the photoshoot to produce “content” for Instagram. And I gotta be honest, that sucks. Cause really that means the thing they’re actually into, isn’t the process of creating art, playing or experimenting. That means the thing they’re actually into is getting validation & gaining social notoriety through posting on the internet.

Here’s another version of the question: What videos would people create and post if you couldn’t follow or like any of the posts?

What if TikTok/Instagram/YouTube didn’t exist, and the only way people could watch a video on the internet would be to have a direct link to an actual website, where the video file was hosted, and that’s it. You couldn’t follow the person who created the video, and you couldn’t like the video. You could only watch it thru a direct link on a website.

How many of the videos that you see on TikTok would still be posted if you couldn’t follow the creators or like the video? I would think, not very many.

And that’s the problem. Whether people are putting out comedy videos, lifestyle content, political videos, outrage at whatever is in the current news cycle that day, etc.. All of these people aren’t actually creating for the sake of spreading the word about their topic, they’re creating to have people hit follow and hit like.

Keep that in mind next time you’re watching a short form video. Ask yourself: “Would they still make and post this video if no one could follow them or like the video?”



Till next time,

-Oliver Endahl

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More fleeting than you think

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One of the biggest misconceptions and mistakes I see, is how much the thought of social recognition, the thought of being famous, drives people.

Fame drives some people so much they are blinded by it. It can affect them in a variety of ways, and of course it can affect the work that person produces during their life.

Here’s the thing about fame though, it is extremely fleeting.

In fact, it’s so fleeting, that there is basically no world where the pursuit of fame is worth it.

The pursuit of becoming famous, generally, requires a tremendous amount of energy, work and luck. But even when everything falls into place, the rate that fame disappears is extremely fast.

Let’s look at 90s boy bands. The 90s were 30 years ago now. The Backstreet Boys, N Sync, 98 degrees, etc.. These boy bands had multiple members each, and each band was huge. They were at the top of the music game. Doing world tours and they had fans in various countries around the globe. But now? If you saw any member from any one of these bands, besides Justin Timberlake, would you recognize them? Probably not. And that was only 30 years ago.

Fleeting like snow

Let’s go back further and look at Hollywood.

Here is the wikipedia description for the actor “Clark Gable”

“William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960) was an American film actor. Often referred to as the "King of Hollywood"he had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in a variety of genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades of which was as a leading man. He was named the seventh greatest male movie star of classic American cinema by the American Film Institute.” (Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Gable )

The KING OF HOLLYWOOD. Does it get more famous than that? And now just a few decades later, the vast majority of people haven’t even heard of him. He was the fucking king of Hollywood. So it’s just comical to me that there are so many people constantly striving for fame, when even if they achieve it, even if they become a star so big they earn an awesome nickname like the king of Hollywood, they’ll be forgotten just a short while later.

You’ll eventually pass a mountain range as you drive by.

This post isn’t meant to bum you out, it’s just an observation. It’s a good thing to keep in mind.

Till next time,

-Oliver Endahl

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Is it punk?

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I’ve really come to enjoy the word “Punk”.

It turns out, I think a lot of the best art made is actually punk. (And by punk, I mean counter culture) Something that pushes back, holds the mirror up, and is a bit radical. If you think about the great artists we celebrate, often times, their work expressed a pushback on society in one way or another. You can see this throughout history with famous artists like Frida Kahlo, Andy Warhol, Elvis Presley, Keith Haring, The Beatles, Britney Spears, the list goes on and on.

I think one of the reasons for this, is because punk art often says something and has a unique viewpoint that makes us question ourselves, our values and our lives and pushes them further. Often times, you’ll see art made by the ultra wealthy (like some music artists on the biggest record labels) is not punk at all. It’s extremely consumable and intentionally unoffensive in every possible way. Because the goal of the folks creating this art, isn’t to say something, it’s actually the opposite. They don’t want to say anything. Cause when you don’t say anything, no one can get mad, no one can make fun of you, no one can complain, and if no one has a problem with it, then it’s consumable by the largest amount of people and therefor it can make the most money. There is no risk because the work is intentionally risk averse.

Something you’ll see on this publication is photoshoots and projects with people of all socio-economic statuses & all levels of fame. Some total unknowns & some extremely well knowns. Isn’t that punk? All levels of status, all levels of wealth & all levels of fame.

Seems like everyday the culture of our capitalist paradigm wants more & more for our statuses to be separate. I’ve attended many functions and events for the wealthy (Regardless of the genre. It could be fashion, dance, art, film, music, photography, etc..) Really the thing a lot of these events and the people who attend them have in common is just wealth. If you’re wealthy, you’re in the club. If you aren’t, then you’re an outsider. (Basically the plot of Gossip Girl) Xoxo

Something to keep an eye out as you consume art. Whether it be music, films, television, people’s fashion, photography, etc.. Is to ask yourself “Is it punk?”

Till next time,

Xoxo

-Oliver

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Polaroids around LA and NY

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Did someone say something to you when you were young that you held onto? (And perhaps you kept what they said in mind for many years to come and even let it partially define you?) Sometimes I think that adults spend their lives trying to prove the criticisms they received as a younger person wrong.

We don’t have to let the past define us. We can experience the moment, and then let it go.

The camera of a polaroid holds space for a moment that’s occurring, it defines and validates that moment by creating a memory, and then it spits that memory out, releasing it into the universe.

Here are various Polaroids I’ve taken around Southern California and New York using a vintage Sun 600 Polaroid Camera, or by using the Analog Polaroid Photo Printer.

DJ and Model: Karma at the Santa Monica Beach at sunset at the end of our photoshoot.

Stacey Hazen laying on a digital floor from our shoot at the “Happy Go Lucky Exhibit” in New York City.

Palm Trees at sunset off the highway

The Eastern Building in downtown Los Angeles. (Snapped while I was walking through town after a photoshoot)

Dancer/model/singer/actor: Tracy Sokat from one of our photoshoots in NY

A small Flamingo statue casting a perfect shadow

-Oliver