Capturing Pokemones, Emos and Goths: Chile's Y2K Identity Explosion

In the 2000s, a spate of eccentric youth subcultures were emerging in Santiago, Chile. Many of their influences stemmed from the dawning days of the internet, which suddenly connected a far-away country to a global source of culture and creativity. This was embraced by Chilean adolescents thirsty for new forms of expressions, ranging from including US emo and scene kids to Japanese decora and Harajuku styles, with a slew of distinctive hybrids in the mix.

At the time, Chilean photographer Francisca Pinochet Geisse was part of small community called visual-kei, originally a Japanese subculture defined by goth and glam-rock fashion. An avid reader of Japanese fashion magazines like 'Kera' and 'Fruits', Fran decided to document the rebellion she was witnessing around her. “Those magazines documented young people responding to a restrictive society, and I got the idea to do the same.”

Using a Sony Cybershot, she began to take portraits of young people in fringe communities, capturing the unapologetic sense of style that fiercely defied anything from the past. "It wasn't that I decided to capture that period in time, I didn't know it was so powerful at the time," she tells Trippin. "It was just a natural response to take pictures of what surrounded me: everything that questioned the norm. I thought it was important to make visible different viewpoints to ensure a more tolerant society."

At the time, Chile wasn't tolerant at all. Fresh from 17-years of conservative, Catholic dictatorship, the country had been moulded by overbearing censorship with clear rules on what was acceptable: being straight, family-led and guided by Christian values. Being queer, punk and extravagantly dressed definitely wasn't allowed.

“From the late '90s through the 2000s, there was an explosion of identity expressions that filled the youth fashion scene in Santiago, Chile with creativity," she recalls. "This came as a response to a conservative, post-dictatorship society that had been very repressed and afraid of speaking out, leading to the creation of new subcultures as a form of expression and a meeting point.”

Fran estimates around 20 different subcultures existed around the time, all into different scenes and soundtracks. the colourfully accessorised decora groups, alongside the goth-leaning Otaku were into Japanese anime and rock, while the pokemones—a distinctively Chilean group—styled their hair like an emo goku and danced to classic reggaeton.

Different sections of Santiago's Parque Forestal or the city's snail-shaped shopping arcades would attract respective groups, while those old enough to party would attend hybrid club nights in large abandoned theatres. "I was visual-kei and there weren't many of us, so we'd party with groups like goths or brit-poppers, punks to industrial goths," recalls Fran. "We all mixed, we all had a good time. I started to take pictures and make friends, and many of these friendships I still have."

Her pictures recall a different time in society, where young people gathered more in public spaces and formed stronger, more visible groups.

“The internet was new and very different from what it is now—there were no social networks, so if you wanted to meet people with similar interests, you had to physically go to a place where they gathered,” she says. “Now young people are online, and that’s it. So perhaps that sense of belonging has faded.”

All shots are by Francisca P. Geisse from her book Santiago Snap, published by Ocho Libros. DM her Instagram for more info.