Documenting Austin with Matt Black
The celebrated documentary photographer Matt Black ran a weeklong photography workshop in Austin during May 2016. A collaboration between Magnum Photos and the Harry Ransom Center (and organized by the HRC Academic … Continue reading
Borges in Austin
I’ve lived in Austin for almost nine years: four as an undergraduate and then, after a stint in Houston, four and a half more while I’ve worked on my PhD. … Continue reading
“The difference between a cocktail waitress and a stripper? Two weeks”
“There’s a joke,” Raven told me during our first meeting back in September 2012. “What’s the difference between a cocktail waitress and a stripper? Two weeks.” She laughed loudly and … Continue reading
Shadows of a Sunbelt City: An Excerpt
In 2013, popular Texas Monthly magazine published a collection of commentaries on Texas’s major cities, and two of them were about Austin. One, written by John Spong (a Texas Monthly … Continue reading
North Lamar: Austin’s Most Cosmopolitan District
Austin’s most cosmopolitan district is growing—not in the heart of downtown—but along a two-mile stretch of North Lamar between Rundberg and Braker Lane at the northern edge of the city. … Continue reading
Ella: Fighting to Save a Few
Any life spanning seven decades is bound to have its share of twists, turns, and dreams deferred–maybe some that are never realized at all. After I had been meeting for … Continue reading
The Curious Case of Clarksville
It’s no secret that Austin, Texas is a growing town. Residents gripe about the weak infrastructure, how the bustling tech industry has made the city less weird, and the pains … Continue reading
How Austin Became Weird: The Story of a Slogan
Everyday, thousands of Austinites roam our city’s sidewalk-less streets, creep along its concrete highways, and ramble through the corridors of its universities and start-ups with one question burning in their … Continue reading
Austin Old-Timer and Newcomer
I. Austin is the capital of the American Renaissance of the beginning of the twenty-first century. The explosive construction of bridges, ramps, roads, buildings; the flow of creative, inventive, and … Continue reading
Interview with Geographer Eliot Tretter
What inspired you to write Shadows of a Sunbelt City? Two factors inspired me to write Shadows of a Sunbelt City. One was the very practical matter of needing to find … Continue reading
Creative Class Blues
if creativity is the ultimate virtue, then why did god create the earth only to drown it in a flood? I ask as a creator who traffics not in planets but in … Continue reading
Austin: One Thousand Songs
AUSTIN When the fuck did I move to this town? I have literally no idea – this dawn, my brain stopped synapses, stripped me senseless. I recall only the … Continue reading
Cactus Rose Trailer Park
Cactus Rose is a trailer park located in the Monotopolis neighborhood of East Austin, an area that has been subjected to heavy changes in the past few years. I spent a few … Continue reading
Photographer John Pike on Austin Cantinas
If you look carefully you can still find a few remaining dingy, dark, loud and smokey Cantina type bars catering to a mostly Mexican and Central American crowd. These cantinas … Continue reading
Native Bees and Austin’s Unrelenting Growth
Most of us know by now that Austin is a great place to live. I’ve been here my entire life and watched the city grow up with me. A lot … Continue reading
Spray-painting Austin: An Artist’s Perspective
Around two years ago I moved to Austin for a new job opportunity with an industrial design firm. It was a little challenging, considering I had no friends and family within … Continue reading
Documenting Barton Springs: An Interview with Karen Kocher, Creator of “Living Springs.”
Karen Kocher is one of the foremost documentary chroniclers of the historical, ecological, and cultural importance of Barton Springs to the city of Austin. Her current interactive online documentary project, … Continue reading
Fighting for Affordable Housing in Austin: A Conversation with Mandy De Mayo, Director of HousingWorks.
Mandy De Mayo is the Executive Director of HousingWorks, a non-profit organization on the front lines of the fight for fair and affordable housing in Austin. We sat down to … Continue reading
Never the Same Again: A Story of SXSW 2010
The year is 2010, a time when Austin isn’t completely overrun with condos, cranes, and “hipsters” just yet, even during the infamous SXSW music festival. My favorite shows are lovingly … Continue reading
