22 Dec 2015

The Cobrasnake and His Influence on Hipster Culture

Does this photo jog any memories for anyone? No, I’m not talking about that Myspace swag that girl has got. Way back when, we used to be a little obsessed with a photographer named Mark Hunter AKA The Cobrasnake. He was the ultimate hipster and he had a very distinct way of shooting his photos. In fact, we loved them so much that in Yow Yow’s original layout, we would swap out our header every month for about 2-3 years for one of Mark’s photos. I remembered that I both loved and hated doing this. I loved it because it made the blog feel a little more fresh every month, but I hated it because it was so much pressure! Mark gained popularity fast and it was tough for me to be able to keep up with his photo postings, but I didn’t want to miss any published album for fear of missing the perfect header shot. Sometimes, I’d be backlogged for months catching up. While I loved these photographs for the way he shot them, I also was a little mesmerized with his lifestyle – constant parties, music festivals, tagging along with his bff Steve Aoki and then-girlfriend Cory Kennedy who was really just an IT girl in her own right. There were celebrities everywhere. There were also photos that you didn’t want to see – the ones that featured nudity, intimate moments, and my least favorite… vomit – especially when in action. Such is life though, right? And Mark captured it all. It’s been a few years since we’ve visited the site, but it’s still up and running! Mark is still taking photos and these days featuring a new wave of celebrities probably – gone are the days in which Paris and Nicky Hilton reigned. Bring on the Bella Hadid’s! In this Vice article, Mark Hunter looks back to describe the last 10 years of shooting.