I have been doing both digital and analog photography for a large part of my life. Using a late 1800s ambrotype I was able to make my first physical photograph using an enlarger!

I care about the preservation, appreciation, and documentation of a group of people that are otherwise sidelined every single day. While common citizens interact with the homeless populations constantly, there is a major discrepancy between how they see you and you see them. In my experience, they exist in the common perspective as a negative or a ‘not-at-all’. I wish to, with this project, erase the idea of a ‘not-at-all,’ and rehumanize my neighbors, even if a portrait is all I can do.

My project started with this portrait. It also ended up being an accidental self-portrait as well. This woman did not give me a name, nor a story; she was undisturbed by my questions but only said yes to her picture being taken. She was content with just that.

‘Fish’n’ was taken on the side of South Congress in Spring of 2026. This photo speaks magnitudes to the gap between where South Congress was and what it is becoming in the 21st century amongst rapidly increasing popularity and prices pushing small businesses and quirk (people like this) from the area.

Soco is now a bustling place full of Electric Scooters and expensive name-brand stores. Kendra Scott has opened its second location on the same street, replacing a local business that I myself frequented. ‘Fish’n’ encapsulates a very real issue modern American, like Austin, cities face today.

‘Uncle Tony,’ (on the right in both pictures), taught Spanish at Austin High some time ago. He speaks it fluently alongside English and uses it to bilingually connect with the South Congress Community. He also plays a plethora of instruments, performed usually with his group.