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
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