We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Austin Anthony. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Austin below.

Austin, appreciate you joining us today. One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.

In late July a record shattering flood snaked through 13 counties in eastern Kentucky. Quaint hillside creeks became torrid bottlenecks, taking homes off of their foundations and depositing the pieces miles away. The New York Times hired me to photograph the damage and to try to tell some of the story. I spent 4 days following the different creek paths down to the hollers flooded with standing water. I saw several of the estimated 17,000 damaged homes. I saw search and rescue teams looking for and finding a few of the 39 deceased. And I saw FEMA securing temporary housing but only approving compensation for about half of applicants (so far). And I met a lot of resilient people who were thankful for the national attention but knew it would be fleeting and that many would be left to fend for themselves once the national agencies left.

So I went back to volunteer. It was only for a weekend, but along with a large crew we cleaned the muck out of the basements of two houses and helped with a third, more severely damaged house. The first two were houses that looked entirely unharmed from the outside. They would have had a very hard time getting an assessor to even come to their door let alone approve compensation. With thousands of completely destroyed homes it would have been a long time before they’d be able to plead their case and by then the mold would have taken hold.

The group I worked with is called EKY Mutual Aid. It’s not a massive non profit with expensive fundraising dinners, it’s a group of neighbors helping neighbors. Collecting and distributing both money and volunteer labor to victims. These folks live in the same area and won’t have to leave for the next disaster.

I know I’m supposed to plug my business in this article so here’s that: I’ve worked companies like NYT, WaPo and Dollar General and I’d love to photograph your wedding, graduation photos, small business advertisements, events, whatever. Send me an email and let’s talk about it (austinanthonyphoto@gmail.com).

But more importantly donate your time or money to EKY Mutual Aid. Venmo, Ca or PayPal them @kentuckydaria and sign up to volunteer at bit.ly/ekyvolunteer. I worked directly with these people and feel confident vouching for them.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I’m a photographer based in the greater Nashville area specializing in documentary style candids and lit portraits. My photos have been on the front page of both the Washington Post and the New York Times and been recognized by Pictures of the Year International. I’m also a certified drone pilot and can provide both stills and video from the air. I love getting involved early in the process and building a vision together then executing on shoot day. But if you need a last minute sub or want to mimic a photograph you’ve already seen I’m down for that too. I also covered D1 and professional sports for years and can do fast-paced sports as well. Basically I’m versatile, flexible, and professional.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I think the most rewarding thing for me is the effect that a professionally made photo can have on someone. For example when I work with businesses and they get to see their products or employees photographed in the same manner as the businesses they aspire to be more like, it can be a powerful effect. And that effect carries over to the potential customer too. Few things present a business with an air of legitimacy like professional photos.

Similarly for portrait and wedding clients, seeing themselves in the flattering light and lensing used on models and realizing their own beauty. I genuinely think everyone deserves to have great photos of themselves and love making that happen.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Well the day before the floods hit Kentucky I mailed off my main camera to have a minor issue repaired. I didn’t have anything lined up for two weeks so I thought it was a safe time to do it, but of course the day after I was contacted by the New York Times to go cover the floods. The only camera I had available was a Canon 5d mrk 2 that was a decade old and pretty noticeably removed from modern equipment. People say that it’s the photographer not the camera and I was very relieved that it turned out to be correct this time.

Contact Info:

• Website: austinanthony.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/austintanthony
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/austin-anthony-33a9405b/
• Twitter: twitter.com/austintanthony

Image Credits
Photos by Austin Anthony