By Dylan Wolfe

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One way this pandemic and the subsequent pause has affected society and culture has been the way it has encouraged us to reflect on what makes our lives as humans so incredibly unique. At least for me.

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As humans we create, we communicate, we gather, we love, we build…

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We eat and we drink and laugh and dream and go to movies and concerts and read and write books…

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To our knowledge we are the only species to do such things at such granular and magnificent degrees, and seemingly the only one to reflect and contemplate it all together.

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But I will dispense with the philosophical candour. Ultimately this piece is about what kind of a brand we aim to be through times both of change and dormancy.

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When we launched ethno. back in February we did so under drastically different circumstances. Not to say that there was no uncertainty — starting a business can be inherently unsympathetic — but uncontrollable factors endured as afterthoughts.

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When the pandemic hit home we found ourselves, along with everyone else, steering through ambiguous and unsettling times. We still are and imagine to be for some time.

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And as a newly formed publication brand, suddenly every decision came laden with underlying circumstances…

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Does this seem authentic? Are we being relevant? Are we being compassionate? Are we missing the mark? Is this tone deaf? Should we hold off on that? How do we reach out appropriately?

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But as we are living through a global health crisis, with millions of lives affected and economic recession sure to follow, life very much carries on. As such, we felt it incredibly important to adhere to the initial principles we had established for our brand and the content we intended to produce: be authentic and relevant in our execution.

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And even as the world comes out of isolation, and in light of recent events and demonstrations across the world, still there remains uncertainty about where things are headed on both global and local scales.

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But how do you establish your identity during crisis?

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I don’t know.

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I guess you do what you usually do. Stay the course. Stick to your gut. Try some new shit. Adjust if you need to.

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Whether you’re a brand or a business or a team or an individual, there are no coordinates for effectively navigating the economic fallout of a global pandemic — let alone the lingering health concerns. Maybe there’s a right way, but it seems there are no wrong ways. It’s up to each of us to support each other, yes, but also to forge our own story and learn from it as we do.

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Everyone will come out of this each with a different story, a different method to the madness. One story is not more important than another. So and so’s story is no more pertinent to the human experience than the other. Our judgements and misgivings are all born out of the same uncertainty and each individual experience on this planet is what gives us our culture. And those are the stories we wish to tell in as relevant a way as possible — crisis or no crisis.

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But to try something is to learn. We are set to learn plenty as we move forward. Yet through success and failure it becomes feasible to maneuver through otherwise tenuous circumstances as long as you don’t lose sight of what has driven you from the beginning.

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In as much as ethno. was founded as a way to artistically document real-life people and their stories within our community, so too we thought it could act as a mirror — held up to the city to reflect the culture and citizenry within.

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Some of these stories you may have heard, some likely not. Some you may find amusing, some perhaps you will not appreciate. But this is what offers complexion to society. Variety. Different angles, points of view, ways to make you think.

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Typical journalism will offer up a story with little to no degree of subjectivity — no omniscient voice to sway you one way or the other. (For the most part). But, as you’re given some creative freedom to tell someone’s story, naturally you begin to straddle a fine line between objectivity and subjectivity…

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But this is what entices us.

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It does not entice us to disseminate the news or to offer objectivity in its entirety. It is not to remind you of parade dates and upcoming concerts, or to compare the city’s best restaurants. Nor is it to provide updates on breaking events or publish political op-eds.

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It does interest us, however, to tell the stories that we feel are relevant and important to us and to our community. And in turn, if executed thoughtfully enough, will offer a perspective you too will find as intriguing as we.

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While our brand is very much in its infancy and our actions and intentions likely to fluctuate, this much can be said with certainty about us — we care about the people in our community that everyday endeavour to offer something of value to their neighbours.

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Perhaps it’s an anecdote. Maybe it’s a song. Could be a pastry.

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If your intention is to instil some semblance of colour and character into our lives, we fuck with you.

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