Over the past few decades, a new way to measure an LA party has emerged: If there's no Glenjamn picture, did it even happen?
Documentary flash photography, usually shot in dark rooms, highlights figures we all know – from the Daft Punk guys to Pharrell and Nigo to the star skater with his own Nike. You can tell they're looking at someone well known behind the lens because we're used to seeing these faces, from world famous to LA famous, with a much more reserved charisma. In these images, their guardians melt away and a rare intimacy shines through. The smile is more chaotic, the energy is more chaotic, and the mood is more pleasant. Tracee Ellis Ross sniffs taco at interior designer Kelly Wearstler's home. Virgil Abloh sits for a casual portrait with his wife and children. Kaytranada then fans herself. Nas eats cold shrimp. Let's call it the Glenjamn effect.
With his Hunter S. Thompson color glasses and 35-millimeter camera, Glen Han, also known as Glenjamn, cuts his own iconic figure and is as instantly recognizable as his photographs. He's been a consistent face in nightlife and culture for 15 years, documenting LA's bloghouse culture and electronic music scenes in the mid-'80s, streetwear events at the height of Fairfax's golden era, fashion weeks from New York to Paris, and countless festivals , raves and hip-hops -hop and punk shows around the world. But he carries his Glendale roots wherever he goes. “It’s a feeling I have everywhere I go,” Han says. “Whenever I’m in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Miami, it’s the spirit of Glendale. That’s why I take these photos of everyone everywhere – I just feel at home when I’m in these different places.”
After a transcendent experience at Daft Punk's Coachella game in 2006, Han vowed to never stop taking photos of his experiences. He started out as the guy who wasn't invited and had to constantly push his way through the door. Now he seems to be the guy who seems to have always been there – behind the booth, mingling with the DJs and pumping up the designers at the fashion party. “I feel like when you look at my photos, you feel like you're part of their group because I worked really hard to be part of that group,” Han says.
His new photography book “Glenjamn,” published by Just an Idea Books, curated by Sarah Andelman of Colette, is an insider excerpt from Han’s nighttime experiences, his friendships and his memories since 2017. “Over the last 15 years “I’ve just up “My gut feeling is familiar,” says Han. “I've always been looking for the naturally cool, the naturally funny, the naturally stylish.” The book includes photos of LA rapper Buddy peeking through a beaded curtain, LeBron James chewing with Tyler, the creator at Pharrell's Louis Vuitton show, André 3000 with his flute, Tremaine Emory chilling and Bella Hadid being silly. “These are the things I like and these are the people I really like, more than the talents they possess. I can spend an hour or two with them and then capture this photo of a special moment.”
Han is prolific – the book is just a fraction of his larger archive, which now includes photographs spanning the last 20 or so years of life and culture in LA and beyond. “I recognized the collective historical moments of all these things,” Han says. “I could see on a macro level how important this was because it affected more than just me.”
After his book signing in Paris earlier this year, Han is bringing “Glenjamn” to LA with a release party and art exhibition – Hans Erste – at HVW8 Art + Design Gallery on April 10th. Below, he shares 15 memories behind photos that didn't make the cut in his book.
My grandmother is my mother's mother. She would somehow raise me after school. I can speak Korean fluently because that was the only way I could speak to my grandma. Everyone in my family treats me like a black sheep because I'm not a doctor. I have police officers, lawyers and judges in my family. And they say, “Oh, there's that mom again, going to a rave in France.” I'm not the serious one. My grandma always thought that was cool. She passed away a few years ago. I would tag her on my Instagram – the Korean word for grandmother is “halmoni.” All these kids on the internet knew about my grandma. They came up to me at a rave and said, “How are the Halmoni?”
I did this with Kelly Wearstler, the greatest interior designer in the world. It was a Spotify event. My strength, my thing, is that people have to smile at me in the camera. And in this photo Nigo [and Pharrell are] petrified. But they still take a photo for me and I was thrilled to see two legends closely linked in history. (And to be fair, that's Nigo's smile.)
I went to Japan with Lee [Spielman] – He has a brand called Babylon LA and is in the band Trash Talk. I met Verdy through Lee a long time ago. I met Skrillex at this place called the Trump Room, which no longer exists because it closed. It was an iconic bar with gilded mirrors and tables – this ornate bar. Random people would hang out. Skrillex was in town for EDC Tokyo. We have a drink by chance, not realizing that in Japan we would all be at this bar at the same time that no longer exists. They all come from different worlds, but you can see that we all get along through the connective tissue. I noticed from this photo that everyone is like-minded and now they are all friends too.
This happened at a soft opening of the Babylon LA store in Hollywood. The end of COVID. This is our friend Errol [Chatham], a DJ, actor and part of Blondie Beach. He was in Loiter Squad with Tyler. [, the Creator]. He does some acting things. I said, “Yo, let me take a picture of you.” You get a sense of what it's been like during COVID-19, you get a sense of how shy Tyler is – but he's pretty open when it's about taking photos because I've met him many times. You get a little insight, a snapshot of when that was for us in history.
I became friends with Sonny [Lee], who is the creator of “Beef.” I heard rumors about it and then saw a trailer for it on Netflix. When he got the call that he was having a premiere party in Hollywood, he called me first and said, “Yo, Glen, you have to take the photos because you're the guy.” We talked about the fact that we're both Korean are Americans and that this is like the Asian Met Gala. You are a winner yourself. And it's nice to see winners clashing with Asian winners.
We met for dinner at Burgerlords. It was one of those sweet, wholesome moments with Spanto where you see he's not just a gangster. I always told Spanto, “I'm your least tough buddy, is that cool?” Whenever he hung out with me, Spanto was guilty of being an idiot.
I photographed a boat party for this Man/Woman trade show. Anwar [Carrots] was in Paris with his new baby. Everyone says, “He's the guy who made carrots!” He's also a really great dad. It was a global family moment. It's hard to bring a baby to Fashion Week, but this is a real showstopper. He's such a G.
That day I became friends with Miguel. He worked with my friend Sophie McNeill and she brought Miguel downtown to the event. I think it was the All My Friends Music Festival. We were just having fun and getting along. He's just a guy who naturally became a friend. And when I see him now, we just always look forward to seeing each other. In this photo, Miguel is holding my video camera – I used it to film all day.
I've been going to A Club Called Rhonda since around 2008. I consider it one of the most authentic parties. They have the spirit of clubs like Studio 54. It feels like a safe place.
They are Estevan Oriol, Uncle Paulie and The Alchemist. We were at [Born X Raised’s] Sadie hawkins. You can see how crazy we're going – you can feel it in Estevan's eyes. These guys are low-key idiots. They always pose tough: Alchemist's mean mug, Estevan's mean mug. It's a very open evening. Paulie is my boy. Estevan is one of my legends of photography – I'm just doing an extension of what he does, just in a different neighborhood.
I think it was a random party that Hypebeast threw at the Berrics in LA. I just remember, “Oh, Virgil is playing. Guillaume [Berg] is here, sick. heron [Preston] plays.” The three brothers that I would see all the time in this fashion world are clicking. The funniest thing about it: When they hung up – remember the backpack kid from the Katy Perry gig? Right after this photo was taken, the backpack kid is dancing and just throws a full cup of beer in my face, a typical Glen Ass moment.
James [Blake] started doing a series in LA called CMYK with the people from A Club Called Rhonda. Taking photos of someone like James Blake, who is quite reserved and reserved…this happened after I shot a few CMYK colors and he became more comfortable with me. That's how I usually do it. He and his friend Steve Lacy are so comfortable in this photo.
This Kaytranada photo is from a festival photo shoot [from Golden Voice] called Portola in San Francisco. It was hours after he had played that day. I have known Kaytranada for a long time. He actually watched my videos before he wanted to be a DJ and he once told me, “I watched your videos [of people DJing] and was like, 'This is what I want to do.'” I captured this sassy moment from Kaytra. He's just the boy I knew, and now he's one of the most stylish people ever. It looks more like a magazine shoot than a crusty after-hours shoot.
That was right after Kobe died. I thought, “We have to go. We have to be there for LA.” I took a photo of this kid. It's the next generation of people paying homage to Kobe even though he's never seen Kobe. You see the generational impact Kobe had on LA, forever.
Comments are closed.