Austin

Goth Bachelor Party

Noah, the archangel and master of gothic ceremonies

Noah, the archangel and master of gothic ceremonies

What can I say. It feels like I should make a book from the images below. I'd expect that it would be held-up as a masterpiece. Not for my photography but for the people in the pictures.

This was truly a life altering experience that I plan to tell my children about. Every single detail was considered from the nail polish, down to the leggings, and back up to the wings. The costumes were a veritable dissertation on the subject of goth culture. 

The choir of evil standing over Noah's body mourning his engagement

The choir of evil standing over Noah's body mourning his engagement

As you'll realize when your index finger starts to cramp up from scrolling down, I placed way more images below then you may have the patience for. But, like a fine wine sip on the brilliance, soak it up, and swallow it down.


For some context, my friend, Noah Bear, and his fiancee, Kimmy Cakes, got married several months ago. But, leading-up to the wedding Noah organized what can only be described as the most perspective shattering bachelor party that had ever hit Barbarella and 6th Street in Austin: "Summer Goth".

Like black coffee with a little umbrella.  Or, The Smashing Pumpkins touring with the Goo Goo Dolls. Or, chocolate covered gummy bears (they're real and they're delicious). Mesh tops, piercings, very few sleeves, and breathable polyesters in place of leather... oh, and light-up fidget spinners.

Daniel, staring into the abyss that is life

Daniel, staring into the abyss that is life

It was like a wikipedia entry on the subject of goth. Very heavily researched on Reddit and Amazon.com, there were vintage goths, steam-punk goths, unruly 1990s teenager goths, even some fallen angel goths. And, as you'll see below, some very special druids even put together an evil chariot for Noah Bear, the dark knight of the evening, to ride-upon. 

The moral of the story: if you're struggling for a party theme this is the only search you need to type in. I hope that you enjoy the pictures as much as I did taking and editing them!

To all my gothic, mascara-wearing, non-conformist, non-gender-binary friends, thank you for a truly spooky and enchanting night. It was entirely my pleasure.



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Capturing Movement and Art: Photography from the Blanton Museum Soundspace Event in Austin, Texas

I love this work soooooo much. This wonderful neon sculpture was created by Taveres Strachan. His other awesome works can be found at https://www.facebook.com/TavaresStrachan/

I love this work soooooo much. This wonderful neon sculpture was created by Taveres Strachan. His other awesome works can be found at https://www.facebook.com/TavaresStrachan/

So well-behaved

So well-behaved

I had the privilege of working with The Blanton Museum to take photos of their AWESOME event, SoundSpace: Refugees. The event featured "works written by, performed by, or depicting the experience of refugees. These performances occur throughout the museum in galleries featuring art that touch on refugee themes." It was just gorgeous. People were wonderful, so much diversity in ages and people, and beautiful art in motion and sound on display.

For those that haven't been to The Blanton, it is this succulent jewel of a building on the fringes of the University of Texas at Austin's campus. After you pass through the arches that border the outside entry way, you proceed past the ticket desk (after buying your ticket, duh), and then you're enveloped by this spectacular main hall (you can see it in the background behind my two well-behaved kids). The tile is this rich, marbelized turquoise that reminds me of a flattened bowling ball. And above you hangs a massive ceramic chandelier that looks like a mixture of human organs, plants, and intestines (picture below). My description makes it sound awful and I'm not doing the Blanton or the artist any favors, but I promise it comes from a place of awe and happiness. It's spectacular!

One of the spectacular dancers with a full choir in the background

One of the spectacular dancers with a full choir in the background

So, imagine this exceptional space (so poorly described above) filled with all the vibrancy of artists, musicians, dancers, and singers who are posted-up throughout the Blanton's rooms with their performances bringing static art to life. If there's a better, more child-friendly way of getting kids and families into fine art museums I'd love to hear about it! You can find all of the Blanton's upcoming events here.

Brent Baldwin performing with the backing of a full choir

Brent Baldwin performing with the backing of a full choir

SoundSpace: Refugees is just one performance in a series that The Blanton puts on every couple months. The next SoundSpace event is happening in just two weeks (September September 24, 2017) reflecting on the life of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitanda. I'll be there with my kids taking photos, so if you see us definitely say "hi"!

Enjoy!