Contemporary Artist Austin Young Filmmaking Confidential

Austin Young is from Reno, Nevada and currently lives and works in Los Angeles. The foundation of his career is from studying at Parsons in Paris. Early in his career, Austin transferred his interests from traditional portrait painting towards a long celebrated career in portrait photography. In many ways, Austin is more accurately described as an image-maker: his projects illustrate the sublime qualities of character that make celebrated people unique. Based on a nuanced visual language of pop-culture iconography, his trademark style and techniques have captured a broad palette of musicians, artists and celebrities including Debbie Harry, Leigh Bowery and Margaret Cho, among others. In multiple bodies of work, Austin confuses personality and identity issues in confrontational and unapologetic image making about people who often split gender roles, stereotypical constraints and socially-constructed identities.

Austin is co-founder and artist of Fallen Fruit, artist duo Austin Young and David Allen Burns, a contemporary art collective that uses fruit as a material for projects that investigate the hyper- qualities of collaboration. 

“Austin Young reconstructs tropes of pop art and pop culture into alarmingly brilliant new icons” - Shana Nys Drambot

"Working with Austin Young is like being alone in a room with a spirit who wants to meet you. He is not interested in your mortality: he is interested in your immortality. [...] He reminds me of the great Hollywood portrait photographers from another era, of George Hurrell, in particular, who was interested in the painting, not the snapshot. There is always a place for the secular in journalism. Thankfully that place will not be in Mr. Young's studio." - Diamanda Galás

"Austin Young is the best artist working in photography today. His work captures beauty at its most vital, carnal, visceral, alive! His exuberant intensity is matched by his innate sense of balance and upmost respect for glamour, in all of its many decent and indecent forms. His work will be seen as important historical reference for our times, and his name will be legend." - Margaret Cho

"Austin's images are, like me, the best of both worlds. Flawless and perfect, they are dreamily artificial -- while somehow simultaneously remaining organic, genuine and very real." - Jackie Beat

“I was beyond thrilled when Austin Young expressed interest in photographing Peaches Christ, not only because I knew Austin would create a gorgeously iconic Peaches image (which he did) but because it meant I’d be included in a brilliant body of work I’ve admired for years. Austin Young’s subjects are my idols and his portraits pay glamorous tribute to the often over-looked world of dark divas, drag superstars, and underground film icons." - Peaches Christ

“I’m pretty unabashed in my enthusiasm for Austin Young’s work. I think he’s the most original photographer to emerge in America since David LaChapelle.” -Richard Metzger