Creative Hangs: Abigail Ann Nevins
Hey friends,
I’m back with another installment of my Creative Hangs! An ongoing series where I connect and photograph local Austin area peeps. For this segment, I had the opportunity to connect with Abigail Ann Nevins who I met at the Latinx Creatives Meet-Up.
We followed up with each other a few weeks later and agreed on meeting up one day to go photographing. Abigail had brought up how she lived in the Hyde Park area and knew of several spots that had lots of greenery, because well you all know I love those leafy pics. We met up one summer evening and took a stroll through the neighborhood and I was blown by all the beautiful homes and all the trees, plants, and flowers that surrounded them. Stopping at interesting spots as we walked on the sidewalk.
For this hang out I brought along my 35mm and my 85mm fixed lens. I opt for using prime lenses because I like to have a shallow depth of field and the fixed lenses really challenge me to think about my composition. The 35mm gives me a more intimate approach, great for taking photos as I chat with my subject, and the 85mm is used for more composed imagery where I intentionally have to create space between my subject and I. I always start with the 35mm because I use the first ten to fifteen minutes to just get to know my subject. I’m a shy person and taking photos of strangers is always awkward so establishing a connection with the person I am photographing is always key!
Abigail and I connected over how having a creative community are important to both of us. Abigail works in emergency medicine but values the relationships she’s made within the photography and influencer community it Austin. These connections have led her to create with several creatives from Austin, Texas, Vancouver, and Tokyo. She hopes to keep connecting, listening, and creating with other creatives. You can find the work she has created in collaboration with other peeps on her Instagram. Outside of creating creative work I was really intrigued and inspired by Abigail’s desire to serve her community. During our conversation, she mentioned how she’s working towards being able to better serve the Spanish speaking community she serves at work because that would not only improve their experience but would ultimately have a greater positive impact on their health. Something that really touched me because here we have someone who’s being super empathetic to the needs of others something that I don’t think we all do enough of. So go show her some love and strive to be more empathetic Y'all!
As I we wrapped up our walk not only was I excited about the imagery we had created, but felt happy that this awesome person had wanted to show me some of the favorite places to go for walks at, opened up about her own life, and had reminded there are tons of cool people out there striving to do good. To close this segment out I have finally realized that the best part of doing these hangouts is not making beautiful imagery but connecting and getting to know more people, ultimately adding to my creative community.
I hope y’all enjoy the photos and feel inspired to connect, and foster that community we all need. As always big thank you to Abigail for hanging out with me and to those of you reading this! Y’all are awesome!
-Javi
