Ray of Light

Austin photographer Annie Ray is on her way to being kind of a big a deal

By Jenny Miller
SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Thursday, January 03, 2008

Unless you're a member of Austin's crowd of hipster somebodies that makes residents of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, look enviously in our direction, you probably have haven't heard of 23-year-old Annie Ray. Yet, since September, the photographer has been a fixture at some of the city's hippest parties, such as the shindigs hosted by Austinist.com.

To offer her signature photo booths, she's also linked up with some of the best party-throwers in town, including DJ Mel (host of the Rock the Casbah dance parties that routinely sell out the Parish) and Birds Barbershop, the rock 'n' roll hair salon. In a testament to her growing popularity, Ray recently shot not one, but two New Year's Eve parties.

"I wanted to show people that there's a different way to have your picture taken in a party scene, to give it a little more depth," says Ray, who, despite her scenester credentials comes across as open and unpretentious. "People are so excited to get photos taken, and I'm so excited — versus snapshots."

When Ray first proposed the photo booth idea to Allen Chen, editor of Austinist, he was skeptical but decided to give her a chance.

"The photo booth idea was exciting, but I had my reservations because this kind of project would only work well if folks were comfortable with the photographer," Chen says. "We first tried it out on the night of our annual ACL party, Local Music is Sexy IV, and it was a tremendous success. Annie had whole groups of people queuing up to have their photos taken. For days afterwards, I was getting e-mails from people eagerly waiting to see the results. It gave our event that extra-special feel; like those who attended were part of something truly unique."

This reporter can also attest to Ray's deftness with her subjects. Somewhere in the depths of the photographer's Flickr.com account, a photo of a certain scribe (OK, me) wearing a fake moustache and posing against a plaid, lumberjack-inspired background might be found. Thanks to coaxing from Ray, I'm leaning forward, one leg propped on a stump. The expression on my face is suitably manly — this was, after all, Birds Barbershop Manfest '07 party. It's a great shot, and not just because I'm in it. Somehow, Ray managed to get me in the silly spirit of the event, and it shows in the photo.

She does this over and over for each shot. Often she dashes out into the crowd to pull people by the arm into her photo booth, which is nothing more than a strobe-lighted backdrop set apart from the rest of the party.

Chen sees something special in Ray's work, too.

"Annie has a way of bringing out both the charming and goofy sides in people. She has this genuine charisma when she's behind the camera — it's no surprise that people naturally warm to her," he says.

And Ray professes to being a people person.

"That's my natural talent — talking to people," she says. "People instantly open up to me. They always tell me their deep, dark secrets."

Of course, part of Ray's natural talent is in the picture-taking as well. Her bachelor of fine arts in photography from the University of North Texas (achieved barely a year ago) no doubt helps, and so does her eye for photography, which she discovered her senior year in high school.

"I was really lost and then I took this journalism class. I took these photos and my teacher was like, 'You've never done this before?' " she says.

As lofty a comparison as it might be, Ray's technique recalls Richard Avedon's approach in his iconic photo series "In the American West," for which the photographer traveled across 13 western states photographing ordinary people against his white backdrop. Avedon is an influence, Ray says, and notes an Austin connection: the Wilson brothers' mother, Laura Wilson, was the one who assisted the great shooter, traveling with him and rounding up subjects for his waiting lens. Ray also cites Diane Arbus, best known for her shots of transvestites, the physically deformed and others on the fringes of society, as another inspiration.

In Arbus-like fashion, it's the less glamorous sorts Ray often enjoys working with the most.

"My favorite people (to shoot) are the bar backs, because they're not dressed up, not having the grandest time," she says.

At the recent Fun Fun Fun Fest, a music festival that took place in November, Ray recounts the way she rounded out her documentation of the event by capturing the people working as well as the attendees.

"I shot the guy who picked up trash. He was so tired and he was like, 'Why is this girl taking my photo?' It's my favorite from that day," she says. "Mixing those in makes it more real. That day is not just the musicians and people going to the festival. It's also the policemen, the people doing the filming.

"At Fun Fun Fun Fest I asked this musician if I could take his picture. He said, 'Do you know who I am?' I said, 'Does it matter?' I'm bringing people down from that (attitude)."

As often as she takes photos at musical events, Ray calls herself "not a big music listener." She explains, "I appreciate what they do — people who have a passion for their talent."

She's especially drawn to DJs. "(DJ) Mel is so awesome. (His talent is), like, second nature," she says. She then rattles off a roster of up-and-coming DJs she admires: "Prince Klassen, Cory from Ocelot, Bird Peterson" and others.

In the spirit that everybody has something to offer, Ray had been planning to call her Web site kindofabigdeal.com — though that domain name ultimately was already taken. "I always joke around, 'I'm kind of a big deal,' " she says.

Unlike the quotation's pompous origins ("Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy"), Ray puts a positive spin on things. "It's that idea that everyone's kind of a big deal. It's reinforcing positive thinking," she says.

Another influence, who would seem to espouse the same democratic views, is Chicago-based Clayton Hauck of everyoneisfamous.com. Hauck does photo booths, too, and occasionally travels to New York, Los Angeles and even Austin (during last SXSW), something Ray would love to do one day. As confident and determined as she seems, it's easy to believe she'll get there. She credits her upbringing — the only child of older parents — in Louisville, outside of Dallas, as the foundation of her self-confidence.

"Both my parents are entrepreneurs, so I have this keen sense that you can do anything you want; you just have to do it," she says.

She's doing it, though sometimes people tell her she's missing an opportunity to make more money at it.

"People are like, 'Why don't you sell the photos?' " says Ray, who makes the pictures available for free download through Flickr.com. "I laugh the whole time I edit my photos. I want people to have the freedom to frame them, give them to friends, put them in a book, put them on the refrigerator."

Just then, an acquaintance of Ray's wanders by the booth at the South Congress Avenue location of Zen, where we're winding down our interview. She greets him and introduces me. I mention that I'm interviewing Ray for XL. "What for?" asks the guy, who knows Ray from her restaurant hostess day job. "Haven't you heard?" Ray jokes. "I'm kind of a big deal."

See photographer Annie Ray's work at: www.flickr.com/photos/annierayphotography and annieray.net.