The Quiet Before the Storm. Or, how SXSW impacts Austin.

this is Sixth St. today. On March 4th. 

On March 8th the same street will be closed off

and filled from side to side with tens of thousands of

music fans, movie fans, performers and more. 

Should be fun.

 I'm pretty sure that a lot of cities, big and small, all around the USA would love to have a couple hundred thousand spend-happy tourists flock into their cities for an eight day, hotel filling, bar busting, tax receipt engorging convention of tech forward young adults who also love the latest technologies, movies and music. Well, I hate to disappoint many other city councils and chambers of commerce but.... I think Austin has a lock on SXSW for the near future. See their website for a taste of the eight days between the 8th of March and the 16th. https://www.sxsw.com/

I look at the festival from a photographer's point of view. The image above is Sixth St., smack in the middle of our downtown. By the end of the week it will be festooned with multiple live music stages, each complete with a state of the art video crew filming the performances with multiple 8K cameras and streaming them....somewhere. The entire street, from the main highway to Congress Ave. will be closed off to vehicle traffic and filled with wannabe musicians, super fans, gawkers and vendors (some legal and some...impromtu). It will be loud, messy and filled with energy. People go there to be seen. To share their music. To hawk their CDs. To pitch their movies. And the some of us go there to document the event. It's a magnet for cameras and their photographers. 

Most of the serious action takes place inside the Austin Convention Center. Pay $1,920 for a wrist band and you can get in to just about any and all seminars, performances, showcases, tapings or other sponsored events. 

I spent one year at SXSW inside the "velvet rope" photographing famous bands on stages in the convention center during their performances, for Sony Music. I spent one year at a corporate sideshow photographing speakers over at a venue on Rainey Street (just across from the Convention Center) and watching the wristband elite drop by to eat up all of the catering and lay waste to the open bar. All on my client's dime. Over the years I've seen the event from every angle. I was at the event there for the rollout of the world famous "Cronut." In fact, I was the official photographer for that late night event, working for the P.R. firm out of NYC. Documenting 400+ people who waited till midnight to get a free donut/croissant combination that was shaped like a small drinking glass and filled with milk. Sorry, no seconds!

I've largely given up hitting the official venues and aim instead, as a photographer, for Sixth St. and all the surrounding areas because nearly every bar, restaurant, coffee shop and alternate space is rented out to corporations that want to introduce their latest and greatest stuff. Let's not forget that SXSW is where Twitter got its first traction --- along with a lot of other start-ups. The swag can be overwhelming.

The number of people out in the streets during all hours of the day and night is amazing. Most are young and excited to be in, what is for two weeks, the center of their universe. This is where bands get discovered. Some get contracts. The film festival rivals Sundance for cinematic interest. And the participants come from, literally, all over the world. Each hoping to land funding for their big break through.

My plan this year is to head down for as many days and evenings as I can (after swim practice, of course.). I'll take two cameras. Both will be black Leica M240s. One will sport a 50mm lens and the other will sport a 90mm or 75mm lens. With those particular cameras I doubt I even need to weigh myself down with extra batteries. With just these two cameras and a small bag I can travel light and nimble. 

The priority is to work the crowds and photograph the endless parade of people; most of whom are looking to become somehow famous. Dressed and made up to attract maximum eyeballs. A wonderful opportunity for photographers to practice their favorite street shooting craft. I'm sure my friend Andy will be there and I might even coax my friend Paul to give architectural photography a little rest and troop down for a day. 

I learned a long time ago that parking downtown is next to impossible. If you do find parking in one of the many private garages you'll end up paying mercenary rates to the owners. One year in the recent past a day's worth of parking was averaging over $80. 

If you try taking an Uber you'll likely get into a traffic jam that'll take forever that's not going to make anyone happy. My ploy is to take public transportation. Austin has the worst. But there is a bus that goes from maybe a half mile from my house all the way into the belly of the beast. It's the #30 bus. It costs $1.25 each way. I think I can swing that. The ride takes about 30 minutes and drops me off in front of the W Hotel. It's a five minute walk to Sixth St. Easy enough to catch it back home as well. Look at me breaking the American and Texas traditions of each person traveling separately to events in their own private car and demanding endless close-in parking....

I've always had a blast photographing during the weeks of SXSW. The crowds are mostly younger. 20s, 30s and a shrinking number of 40 year olds. Maybe some leftover 50+ hippies as well. Usually so much good energy. 

The only glitch in my scheduling this year is that the show will exactly correspond with our new living room floor renovation. Exactly the same two weeks. I'll have to be extra nice to B so she can take the lion's share of supervision duties. Now gearing up for this Friday and the official start of the insanity. If you're in Austin you owe it to yourself to check out the turbo-charged street scene. It's a fun photographic project.  You get to participate as much as you want. Bring your own violin or harmonica as well and get discovered....

reports to follow.