The Los Angeles Spotlights: Eddie Obrand Is Almost Famous

Eddie Obrand is the kind of dude you want to hang out with. A Laguna Beach native, Obrand a filmmaker and photographer you’re going to see a lot more of. He got his start with LEAF, a collective he and a few friends formed to explore art and music. Together, they made videos and even worked with Urban Outfitters—the group was powerfully formative in the way only a young gang of creators can be. Still fresh on the scene, Obrand’s wasting no time, filling his repertoire with work from LEVI’s, Stone Cold Fox, and BB Dakota. One of his first opportunities came from Monster Children and our pals over at D’Blanc, when he directed the series Everybody In, following bands on tour: from swag machine Curtis Harding to the French, punky La Femme. Obrand’s work with La Femme earned him a Vimeo Staff Pick and is pure passion with a badass POV. Other musical mugs he’s captured include Benjamin Booker and Kurt Vile, all shot in Obrand’s light—chaotic, quiet, real. He makes for an ideal fly on the tour bus wall, as much a fan as he is there to work. His portraits are nostalgic and strong, a harsh contrast to the light and envy-inducing waves he’s making in the commercial world.
 
Obrand disguises his commercial work for cinematic art, favoring storytelling to selling. If anything, Eddie’s reel is brand-less. His short film for Vissla, Palmera Express, started as a spot for a surfwear company, but he gave context to surf culture with a kind-of-revitalized Endless Summer narrative. “I didn’t want anyone to feel excluded,” he says, “I wanted to speak ‘surfing’ to people who don’t—I wanted the film to be accessible for everyone.”  Gnarly. With a style that captures an age and feeling we cling to so desperately, Obrand’s just at his beginning.

Catch his moving images on social @eddie_obrand