Local Joint 1 | Austin Augie

A few months ago we reached out to our favorite artists with a simple question:

Can we meet you at your favorite spot for a conversation? Nothing less, nothing more.

The parameters were simple—we told artists we’d meet them at their local staple, ask some questions, and run cameras until they told us to stop. We really just wanted to have conversations to get a feel for what artists are like as people, outside of the sometimes dry art world.

So, we got in touch with artists every way we knew how and in no time artists were inviting us to their local spots.

And like that, Local Joints was born.

Our first stop on the tour happened to be Muncie, Indiana with photographer Austin Augie. Population 65k. Home of Ball State University. Doesn’t ring a bell? Don’t worry it didn’t for us either. But, now we’ll never forget it.

The trip started with an early morning departure from New York. Being that Augie is no longer based in his hometown, we loaded up a minivan and road-tripped 12 hours from his studio in New York to Muncie for the tattoo session. He insisted it was necessary so we could all get to know each other—and we did.

You can find the tattoo session and conversation here:

thestudioworldwide

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_{*shoutout Augie’s childhood best friend DBunk for welcoming us into 111 Tattoo!}

We went into it loving Augie as a photographer, but we left it loving him as a friend. From traveling salesman, professional BMX rider, model, and now - most notably - photographer, Augie’s life is far from ordinary; but, his humility and genuine outlook on life is contagious and relatable.

After the tattoo session, but before Augie’s new ink had dried, he took us around town for some horseback riding and billiards. He seemingly knew everyone, and everyone knew him. All 65 thousand locals.

Thank you Augie and Muncie.

That’s it from us for now. Talk from the road.

🏃‍♂️ 

-Jack

P.S. Feel free to respond and let us know where you’d like to see us go next.