UNLEASH THE COBRASNAKE
THE BIRTH OF PARTY PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE DEATH OF DIGITAL AUTHENTICITY
If being in “the right place at the right time” was a person, that would be Mark “The Cobrasnake” Hunter. With his candid technique and frequent internet uploads, he played a pivotal role in the mid-2000s, capturing the generation that was transitioning from the analog past to the digital present. As the dial-up era came to a close and digital cameras found themselves in everyone’s pocket, the world was becoming irreversibly connected - and he found himself forefront of it all in LA.
Hunter had a master class in marketing and personal branding from none other than OBEY’s Shepard Fairey, whom he assisted for nearly two years. His stickers, posters and graffiti adorned Hollywood’s most iconic real estate, drawing curious eyes to his blog where he showcased the latest nights out.
A photo from my own digital camera archives - summer 2009. These giant square stickers were everywhere in particular. I had just taken the bus from my parents’ house on the westside to visit The Cobrasnake’s first and last brick and mortar shop on Hollywood and Highland. More on this to come…
Straight out of highschool and choosing to forego college, he joined forces with fellow Southern Californian, DJ Steve Aoki, who was already a decade deep into his electro record label, Dim Mak. They quickly forged a symbiotic, promotional partnership that blended music, visual artistry, and fashion trends into a cultural powerhouse. As Hunter launched his own website to document the most recent Hollywood parties, the narrative of unattainable celebrity culture began to shift completely.
Before apps like Instagram and TikTok turned celebrity viewing into a free and daily spectacle, Hunter’s photos were some of the first to offer such intimate glimpses into the world of the stars. His unfiltered work was also an antidote to heavily-scripted “reality” TV that had started to boom as well. And unlike skeezy, invasive paparazzi that often operated without permission, Hunter himself had become a celebrity, invited in by the industry-elite to capture anything from their birthday parties to international concerts.
It doesn’t get much bigger than this.. for some people that is. Pictured with Karl Lagerfeld, Hunter didn’t find himself awestruck among industry icons. Courtesy W Magazine
His candid captures from nightclubs to house parties demystified celebrities, transforming them from untouchable gods into accessible figures, blurring the line between fan and friend. His images gave viewers an illicit sense of voyeurism, as if you were trespassing to get such access. Looking back, it’s ironic that this once-revolutionary concept couldn't be less captivating now. We all follow our celebrity idols on various apps and enviously obsess over their extravagant lives that they post about constantly. The difference is that now we have constant access in the palms of our hands, and the content itself is far from raw and authentic.
Beyond its voyeuristic appeal, Hunter's work captured a broader cultural shift; it kicked off society's ever-growing obsession with documenting and sharing every moment online. This was also the last era that appreciated a photo album, digital or otherwise. As FaceBook began to eclipse Myspace in popularity, it was commonplace to go to a party, snap dozens of pics and upload them into one massive, unfiltered album the next day.
There was excitement behind catching the “perfect” shot, long before smartphones came along with a slew of high-tech filtering apps. If you were fortunate enough to have your photo make it onto The Cobrasnake website, you felt like social royalty. And if you really hit the jackpot with your photo as the album cover, you may as well have retired from the scene altogether, knowing damn well you’d never achieve such a fleeting high again.
The Cobrasnake, both the photographer and the movement, sprouted the short-lived period of spontaneity and authenticity in the early digital landscape. In today’s world, we’re all guilty of curating our social media personas, perfecting that one occasional shot for our feed while we throw everything else into our Stories for their 24-hour shelf life. Social media sites now are just heavily tampered-with portfolios. Despite knowing this fact, we still find ourselves caught in an incessant, daily spiral of comparison.
Far from glamorous or in focus, the shots of Lindsay Lohan and Amy Winehouse with Arctic Monkeys frontman, Alex Turner, are two of my favorite shots of his. They’re prime examples of raw, social authenticity; worlds apart from the curated nonsense that we’re bombarded with these days.
Today, The Cobrasnake’s legacy lives on as a testament to the power of digital journalism in the wake of huge cultural shifts. He captured a brief moment in time when burgeoning tech and creative culture collided head on into a mess of brilliant chaos, all while changing how we navigate nightlife and view celebrity culture forever. He turned partying into its own art form, where every night out was an opportunity for pure creativity, and taught us that the right click could define an era completely.
If the “Pitturia di Storia” composition style from the Renaissance met the Indie Sleaze era, you’d get this perfectly timed shot. Translated to “History Painting,” artists used this style to line dramatic scenes with grand figures in an intricate manner, indicative of whatever significant event was taking place at the time. This is just one of many Cobrasnake photos that hit the mark.
This classic mid-aughts collage style logo was the homepage of www.thecobrasnake.com on June 30, 2005 (Courtesy of Wayback Machine). How far we’ve come from photography blogs to smartphone apps. Are we doomed now to an eternity of hyper-curation and deepfakes with the rise of AI? Stay tuned (the answer is yes).
On the other hand, keep the good vibes rollin’ with The Cobrasnake’s 2022 Rizzoli coffee table book here.
-SID
