Wood, Citrus, Lattes, Feet, Twine, Repeat: The Kinfolk Kinspiracy Code
On the one hand, Kinfolk is a lifestyle magazine founded by a small circle of friends that is designed to help you live your best life, full of warm pie and soft colors. On the other hand, Kinfolk is a constipated manual for minimalist try-hards and mushroom foragers, full of photographs of obsessively staged gatherings and didactic articles on "simple living."
Founded at Brigham Young University by Nathan Williams and a small circle of friends in 2011, it soon took up its headquarters in Portland, Oregon. The magazine is like a caricature of Portland itself, full of reclaimed wood, wildflowers, and twine. It uses the tagline "a guide for small gatherings," praises slowness, and provides tips on being neighborly. This is also a lifestyle that's extremely photogenic, as suggested by its strong presence on Instagram.
I started the The Kinspiracy tumblr after I noticed a pattern emerging from dozens of Instagram users—my own personal Beautiful Mind moment. It was suddenly so clear: Every account cultivating that Kinfolk look seemed to follow a specific formula. Every account had a photo (or several) of the following: A latte with a foam leaf design, a fresh piece or two of citrus, a glimpse of a pair of small feet—often in a well-worn pair of boots—an ice cream cone, weather permitting, some glasses here and there, twine, the occasional fixed-gear bike. And always, in every damn account, Kinfolk.
The Kinspiracy catalogs the brown shoes, piles of wood, American flags, twine scissors, and Wes Anderson-like lined up objects arranged just so. I collect four photos from the same account to create what is basically the same thing over and over again.
Kinfolk, foam leaf lattes, glasses, citrus.
Kinfolk, boots, foam leaf latte, glasses.
Kinfolk, foam leaf latte, glasses, citrus.
Kinfolk, bicycle, foam leaf latte, glasses.
Kinfolk, foam leaf latte, ice cream cone, glasses.
Kinfolk, foam leaf latte, glasses, citrus.
Kinfolk, boots, ice cream cone, twine package.
Kinfolk, foam leaf latte, ice cream cone, bicycle.
Glasses and Kinfolk, boots, foam leaf latte, miscellany.
Kinfolk, foam leaf latte, ice cream cone, citrus.
Once you see the hundreds of photos of the same things using the same VSCO filters with the same types of captions: "Inspiration," "Perfection," "Mindfulness," the effect is fucking eerie. It is one big circle-jerk with Kinfolk magazine in the middle. They praise each other's uniqueness, repeat it themselves, and wait to be praised in turn. And with somewhere around 10K followers apiece on Instagram, there's no shortage of praise and encouragement. It's a cult.
I hope Jesus was on #TeamFollowBack.
