A photographer perhapsnot just an artist who plays with lens or colors, but also can be considered asa messenger that has something to say about a culture or something thathappened with passion and love. Thus, a photographer may speak through the lensto state his/her point of view toward everything around and for the love ofsomething that he/she believes. Began his career in the late 80s, Estevan Oriolbecame a tour manager for Uber-Hip-Hop group House of Pain and built hisconnection with the Cypress Hill - another LA-based hiphop superstar group –that a decade later will create Soul Assassins (a production house which issupported by various artists and musicians) with Oriol as one of themasterminds. During his tour with the group, he invoked his unique andoutrageous style to capture the experiences and then started taking pictures ofhis crew/homies and the lowrider culture in LA that influenced him a lot.California is very well-known for its one-of-kind and unique lifestyles. Thediversity of cultures and races made it very rich of influences and soulful.The Mexican immigrants (latino/hispanic/chicano) have a sole way of life thattruly inspired Mr.Oriol to do his “magic”. He had a giftfor capturing the raw essence of street life through his photography. He took pictures for variousmagazines such as FHM, Anthem, Mass Appeal, Juxtapoz, Juice and many tomention. Most of his photographs appeared as front covers. He has a raw andhonest style of photography with a delicate sense of street spirit that hasbeen very rare nowadays. He also do artworks for CD covers and sheets fromvarious musicians and many collaboration projects including his notoriousproject along with Mr.Cartoon, a world famous Los Angeles based artist. The two skillful artists joinedforces in 1995 to establish Joker Brand, a giant brand which provides clothingto support hip-hop and chicano culture, which is now rock-like solid and gainedfans world-wide.
A decade later, Mr. Cartoon and Estevan expandedtheir empire, using their unique talents to assist brands and companies inreaching the coveted Hispanic Urban market place through the establishment ofSA Studios Agency, a multi-cultural multimedia design/art company. SAorchestrated a highly successful collaboration art show sponsored by Nikecalled Cultura, based on the line of shoes completed for Nike. SA's clients includeHarley Davidson, Nike, Toyota, T-Mobile, and Rockstar Games. Today, to widenhis career, Estevan directs music videos for groups including Eminem, CypressHill, D12, Linkin Park, Blink 182, Paul Wall, P.O.D., and Xzibit. He devisedshooting campaigns for Nike, Rockford Fosgate, and Cadillac. A few to mention,he has directed new media projects for My Cadillac stories, MTV, and AppleComputer.
Never enough and won’t ever stop, he stepped intofilm industry as a director. Brian Grazer and his company, ImagineEntertainment, along with Universal Pictures, chose to partner with SA studiosby requesting from Estevan a three picture deal in which he could direct threemovies of his choice. The first one will be the life story of his partner, Mr.Cartoon, set for release in 2008. Moreover in late 2007 and early 2008, EstevanOriol released three separate publishing book projects that he has been workingon for the past decade: Ink, a retrospective of his last ten years withMister Cartoon, Adidas 1979, a collaboration with Adidas originalschronicling street ball through his lens in an 80 page custom book, and Eastof Havana, a book about Cuban hip-hop, plus playing-card set and calendars.Last, Estevan Oriol starts with his own world and beloved culture around him tolegitimate his skills and gains experiences. After all, it will give positivefeedbacks to the culture that raised him. He absolutely won’t stop trying andlearning.
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