Austin

PHOTOS: Here's A Look Back At Austin Through The Lens Of Photographer Lisa Davis

KUT 90.5 | By Andrew Weber

Published July 17, 2020 at 2:01 PM CDT

A self-portrait of photographer Lisa Davis taken in September 1984.

The Austin History Center is rolling out the digitized work of Lisa Davis – a renowned Austin photographer whose work appeared in The Austin Chronicle, The New York Times and Out Magazine, among other publications.

For years, Davis documented Austin's music scene, the LGBTQ community, protests for racial equity and general political goings-on – balancing straightforward documentation with an empathetic eye toward the communities and movements in which she both participated and observed.

This week marks the 25th anniversary of her death, and her entire collection of 29,000-plus images were donated to the History Center to digitize. (If you want to better know Davis, I implore you, read Kate X Messer's heartrending elegy for her in The Chronicle's archives.)

Below is a collection of some of Davis' most striking portraits of luminaries like Barbara Jordan, Ann Richards, W.C. Clark, Willie Nelson and even the world's longest-reigning monarch.

If you'd like to check out the full collection, head over to the Portal to Texas History or view the Austin History Center's entire exhibit.