It was May 2004 and there were so many signs in Austin, Texas, I almost ran out of film. Ten years ago I was still shooting old-school, and my slides from my first five-day visit—to the town I now call home—have a rich resonance that I swear is lacking in today’s digital photographs.
I think now that those signs had something to say to me. They all seemed to point me in one direction: West, from Washington, DC, where I’d lived most of my life.
I’ve photographed close to 100 Austin signs since then, for my Vanishing Austin photography series (and many of them on that very first trip in 2004), but the one that convinced me to move to Austin was a temporary sign, set up in front of the Broken Spoke, for a commercial shoot. That evening, the sign wasn’t for real; but it surely could have been, sometime in the Spoke’s past.
Imagine that. You drive up to a honky tonk throwback Texas dance hall in far south Austin, where urban development had not yet occurred to anyone, and you see a sign that says “Willie Nelson Live.” Now that’s a sign. ♣
What’s your favorite Austin memory from times past?
More about my Vanishing Austin series: While many Austin landmarks are lost, many are survivors still. Admire them all in a slideshow, HERE. Prints start at $35.
You can marvel at what’s lost and what’s survived in my Endangered Species of Austin poster, featuring 16 Austin icons, and sized at a handsomely large 24 x 36,” available for $25, HERE.
- How the Vanishing Austin project began
- The 99+ photographs in the Vanishing Austin series
- More articles in Vanishing Austin blog series
- The Endangered Species of Austin
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Jann Alexander :: Pairings 
Never been to Austin but would really like to visit one day(:
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I love all your nostalgic sign pictures.
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Another nostalgic. Long may we live. Thank you kindly.
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Great town – and the number of signs has grown exponentially!
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Chuckling. We have some superb old-school sign designers here, and business owners who appreciate retro-chic. A win-win for a sign lover!
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Hard to reproduce the vibrancy of slide in digital…..but I think it’s getting there. Fantastic social record photos.
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Thanks, Denis, I am easily entertained by signs, especially when they evoke nostalgic times. They get me imagining life in another place and another era. Do you still shoot any slide film? I’d like to, but it is hard to justify the cost.
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I’m so glad you’ve photographed all these signs, I love them! Thanks for playing the part of historian 🙂
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I find it hard to resist a clever sign, Maya! You’ll be seeing more of them this week. The photo challenge played right in to my hands . . . or shall I say, my photo library . . .
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Things do change, but some are not for the best. Austin is like every other large city, not the “Austin Weird” of yesterday.
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Thanks for your observation, Larry. Operative word, I think, is “large.” Austin has become a large city before my very eyes (in a mere decade) and having come from the very large DC metropolis, I am all too familiar with the sudden change. There are many positive things about it, especially for those who bring bucks to the table. But there are a lot of tiny pebbles that get kicked to the curbs.
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First off I would like to say excellent blog! I had a quick question which
I’d like to ask if you do not mind. I was interested to know how you center yourself and clear your mind
prior to writing. I have had a difficult time clearing my thoughts in getting my thoughts out there.
I truly do take pleasure in writing however it just seems like
the first 10 to 15 minutes are usually wasted just trying to figure out how to begin. Any
ideas or hints? Thank you!
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Thanks and great question. One trick I use is having a dedicated space for writing (which I share with my photo-editing space, designing space, painting space and bill-paying space). The way I make that work is by clearing all the non-writing crap out of my immediate work area and more importantly, out of my sight. Once the clutter’s gone, it’s easier to get in the zone. Here are a few posts I wrote about that, hope these might help you!
Are You Captive To Clutter?
How Four Words Got Me Back On The Writing Track
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