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Estevan Oriol has got the receipts. The OG photographer and director<\/a> has 30-plus years of shooting everything from hip-hop artists to Afghan prisons to Japanese B\u014ds\u014dzoku, resulting in a bulletproof archive that spans wide and delves deep into the cultural spectrum. Oriol\u2019s iconic \u201cL.A. Fingers\u201d image \u2014 which shows a woman\u2019s manicured, ring-decked fingers forming the letters of this city \u2014 is arguably second only to the Dodgers logo as the most identified people\u2019s symbol of Los Angeles. And it\u2019s his relationship to his hometown, the City of Angels, that defines his sui generis eye and puts him up there with such greats as Ansel Adams, Mary Ellen Mark and Daid\u014d Moriyama. Oriol has an instantly recognizable style that shows reverence for his subject and a deep connection to the environment. He\u2019s also started a few different clothing brands with friends over the years, including Joker<\/a>, one of the first West Coast streetwear brands, which just celebrated its 30-year anniversary.<\/p>\n We chopped it up one afternoon at Chateau Marmont, the location at his request. We have been friends for over 10 years, and though my job titles have changed a few times, one thing always remains consistent: I will do a project with Estevan at some point. He is my favorite and most steadfast collaborator, suitable for all occasions, always raising the bar with a fresh perspective. Our first event was the \u201cCalifornia Love\u201d photography and lowrider show at Milk Studios in 2016, where the lo-lo\u2019s were dramatically lit as if they had descended from heaven, combined with the best of Estevan\u2019s L.A. images. <\/p>\n He sends me a shot of the traffic on Franklin Avenue from his car while on his way to our interview. Estevan does this when he\u2019s running late. It strikes me as funny because, of course, he would send a picture \u2014 he\u2019s a photographer, after all \u2014 but I realize what he\u2019s really doing is sending me confirmation that he\u2019s not in bed hungover or finishing his lunch. He\u2019s on his way. Proof of life.<\/p>\n Estevan wears Jacques Marie Mage sunglasses, Hoorsenbuhs jewelry and wallet chain, Firm\u00e9 Atelier suit and top, and To Boot loafers customized by Firm\u00e9 Atelier.<\/p>\n Seulgi Oh: In your mind, what is the biggest misconception about being Estevan Oriol?<\/p>\n Estevan Oriol: I would say that people always put me in, like, a niche, in a basket. They only know me for what they know me for. So if they know me for gang culture, they think I only shoot gangs or hip-hop or lowriding or whatever the subject is. At times, I wish they just did a little bit of homework when they say, \u201cOh, I\u2019m a big fan.\u201d But for the most part, I know that not everybody has time to sit there and research me.<\/p>\n SO: What\u2019s a typical day like for you?<\/p>\n EO: I wake up, turn on my sauna, get the cold plunge going, and then I go hit the water pot and decide whether I want to have coffee or tea. I try to do some type of exercise after that, and then I get ready to go out for the day. The whole day is the hustle, whether it\u2019s work, whether it\u2019s getting a past job done, doing a job, or getting new work. And I go until I feel like I\u2019ve accomplished enough, which is never enough. I never feel like I\u2019ve done what I wanted to do in that day. Sometimes the day ends at 10 p.m., sometimes 2 a.m., but I always start at the same time [8 a.m.].<\/p>\n Most of my career has been winging it. I don\u2019t have a plan. I don\u2019t have a thought-out process, which most people do. But the way that I came into my career, I didn\u2019t have that. I didn\u2019t come in traditionally, I just came in doing photos. I would show up to these places maybe a half an hour before and look around the area and hope that the guy would want to go outside. Because sometimes they were like, \u201cNah, man, we just shoot right here.\u201d They told me to go shoot Robert Rodriguez at this hotel one time in Beverly Hills, and it was horrible \u2014 the hotel lobby didn\u2019t look cool. I asked him if it would be OK if we went outside to the back because I saw this cool wall that we could shoot at, and he was like, \u201cYeah, no problem.\u201d So I took him and Rosario Dawson behind the hotel, put them standing against my car, and the pictures came out great. But then I could have never planned that either. I\u2019m good at working on the fly.<\/p>\n SO: You\u2019re always drawn less to the mainstream and more to the road less traveled. Early in your career, you were known for shooting gang life, prisons, lowriders. What draws you to these subcultures?<\/p>\n EO: Most of the time, I document it for myself. I\u2019m not documenting to shed light on it or show people what they could see if they went to this place, because most of the people in the world have never seen 95% of my photos, maybe more.<\/p>\n Estevan Oriol, \u201cFox\/trigger\u201d<\/p>\n Estevan Oriol, \u201cSpanto\u201d<\/p>\n SO: Stanley Kubrick said, \u201cI\u2019ve got a peculiar weakness for criminals and artists, neither takes life as it is. Any tragic story has to be in conflict with things as they are.\u201d Do you relate?<\/p>\n EO: I mean, I like that. I have accepted the world for what it is. It\u2019s f\u2014ing nuts. There\u2019s no rock unturned in this day and age. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything that hasn\u2019t been photographed yet, so you have to do it with a different twist. The way the world is going, nobody cares about quality. It\u2019s about quantity and quickness. It\u2019s happening so fast that you\u2019re trying to keep up, but you\u2019re trying to keep the integrity of the craft and the art. And then there\u2019s new technology that doesn\u2019t give a f\u2014 about none of that, that can take you out completely. And then you\u2019re nothing anymore. You\u2019re worthless.<\/p>\n The only thing that is worth something is the archive \u2014 the old stuff, because it\u2019s nostalgic. It\u2019s a part of history. It has a story. So what I am going to have is my 30 years of archives that you can\u2019t AI and you can\u2019t ChatGPT because it\u2019s 30 years old. That\u2019s one of my prized possessions.<\/p>\n SO: When I think about your archive, so much of it shows your relationship with L.A. How has your perspective evolved over 30 years?<\/p>\n EO: Whenever I travel, everybody always brings up Hollywood. Like, \u201cHave you ever met David Hasselhoff or Pamela Anderson?\u201d They think everybody\u2019s at the beach all day. I rarely go to the beach because there\u2019s s\u2014 in the water. It\u2019s not what people think. You know, palm trees, sunny beaches. I\u2019m running around in the city, so that\u2019s what I see. I was part of the lowrider culture before I was part of the photography world, so I was showing what I was around earlier on, which was hip-hop and lowriding.<\/p>\n SO: Are there any art exhibits that significantly influenced you?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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