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My Website

MySpace Page

Videos of those who have inspired me...


JER BER JONES • ONLY YOU

Jer Ber Jones is one of my favorite artists and a good friend.

Angela: Stalking the President

I LOVE Angela Wright. This makes me laugh every time I watch.

Kate Bush - Sat in Your Lap

Kate Bush. Love her.

Toyah - Thunder In The Mountains

The cover of the 12" single for this song by Toyah Wilcox released in 1981 changed my life forever.

Sweet Transvestite

Yeah. This changed my life too.

Pink Flamingos finale

Ok, this one too -- the final scene from Pink Flamingos.









Film maker and photographer Austin Young lets Dogonaut in on his virtual world.


Jackie Beat interviewed me for IN magazine:

"Austin Young is my very favorite photographer. Anyone who can make this fat, old, white man look like a voluptuous young woman of ambiguous ethnicity is all right by me! I spoke to Mr. Young about his upcoming solo show God Save The Queen, which features stunning stills and video verité of drag queens, transsexuals and performance artists."

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I'm in the art collective Fallen Fruit:

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Love this site! Body Collector - Overground and Ultra Art:

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Siouxsie - the ultimate diva!

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Diamanda Galas

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debbie harry

ivanova

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dame edna

linda perry


Beauty is Pain Interview


Beauty Is Pain Publications: I've watched some of The Worm series on youtube, I have not seen the original yet though. What the hell is up with that thing? lol!


Austin Young: The first Worm I released is episode 6. I started it in the middle. I came up with the concept as a dark existential musical comedy. Life goes on. nothing changes. there is no beginning or end. we are stuck in the middle. after I made Episode 6. I had a dream that Cher, Britney, and Madonna sang "Hey You" by Pink Floyd. and then turned into one giant worm. voila! The Star and co-writer is Nadya Ginsburg. She inhabits Cher and Madonna- she literally becomes them. It's amazing. No one can believe that she also plays "The Worm" The Worm is just so gross. I love Nadya. The Worm's bean eating is, of course, inspired by Ken Russell's famous bean scene in "Tommy" where Ann Margaret rolls in baked beans that pour through washing machines in her pristine white bedroom.


BIPP: Yeah, Nadya Ginsburg is amazing at the impressions. I was blown away about how dead on she is! That is funny that she plays the worm, I would have never guessed... guess I should read the credits more often? How did you two meet?


Austin: We met at a party in Silver Lake. It was instant love. I asked her to be part of a short horror film I was making at the time: "Deep Creek" She did an impression of Winona Ryder for me. OMG. She can embody someone psychically- it's so weird. Which was really the inspiration for The Worm. I saw how deeply she understands her characters- She instinctively knows their fatal flaws; therefore she can portray them accurately. The Worm at it's core, is based on the idea that we all have problems that we can't get past. So our lives go in circles.


BIPP: I like that you get inspiration from your dreams. I get a lot of mine from dreams as well. What is one of the strangest dreams you have ever had? Or would that be the one about the worm?


Austin: The strangest is to wake up crying.




BIPP: Your photography is amazing... do you have any books of your work out?


Austin: I've been doing portraits and my own strange brand of beauty for over 20 years. but, no. i don't have a book. I always tell my friends I'm working on one. but it has never come out. I'm a terrible perfectionist. That's a trait which can really slow things down! I hope someday soon.


BIPP: Who are some of your personal inspirations? Any directors or photographers that inspired you to do what it is you do now?


Austin: I love John Waters, David Lynch, Fellini, Charlie Kaufman, David Cronenberg, George Melies, Fritz Lang, Ken Russell, John Cocteau, Salvador Dali, i love Andy Warhol's self portraits. Gustave Moreau, Egon Schiele, Edward Munch, Robert Mapplethorpe, John Heartfield...


BIPP: I love all the names mentioned! On a weird side note... I used to have a huge crush on Cronenberg when I was in high school... I was like "Fuck Brad Pitt! I want John Malkovich in Dangerous Liaisons and David Cronenberg and I should have an affair!" Also, in high school, I got way into John Waters and I would sometimes dress like him when I went to school... my mom didn't know what to make of it and this boy I was seeing at the time dumped me over it. He just didn't appreciate bad taste. lol! What is one of your favorite Cronenberg movies just out of curiosity? I like them all but I am partial to Dead Ringers. Some of his earlier stuff is pretty freaky and great... like They Came From Within or The Brood.


Austin: I know! I like all his movies. The world he creates is bizarre and dark. Dead Ringers. Crash is great. I was really inspired by Videodrome, Naked Lunch, eXistenZ.


BIPP: How do you pick your models? And is there any model you have not worked with that you would like to work with in the future?


Austin: I love working with people. portraits are my favorite thing to do. I love showing the intimacy and the emotional connection and the beauty of our collective souls. I am working on a series of NUDES now. People email me through myspace and facebook all the time and ask if they can model for me. I've found some of my favorite models that way. I'd really want to photograph Cher and Dolly Parton. I have been shooting drag queens and trannies since i started photography -- They are my first true inspirations. I love them. i was weaned on Harris Glen Milstead aka "Divine"




BIPP: One of my best friends and I were making up new lyrics to the Dolly song "Jolene" the other day... we were turning it into a song about an in the closet lesbian women trying to get rid of her husband so that she could get with Jolene. lol! What is one of your favorite Dolly songs?


Austin: I love her version of "Stairway to Heaven" and of course "Islands in the Stream" and "Hard Candy Christmas"


BIPP: That is funny that you mentioned drag queens and trannies as where you got started. That was pretty much the same thing for me when I started directing. I would steal equipment from the high school I was going to and skip classes... head for Portland clubs, mostly and almost exclusively gay & lesbian clubs with lots of drag shows. They embraced me and were so encouraging, not to mention they loved the attention. It was a really awesome training ground for someone who was just starting out and was all kinds of insecure. lol! Would you come to Portland (Oregon) and have an exhibition of your work?


Austin: Yes! in a minute. I love Portland. I'd love to spend more time there.


BIPP: What is the absolute best or WORST movie you have seen this year?


Austin: I'm too busy now so I try to be selective in what i will watch. I will say I finally saw "La Vie en Rose" the other day. OMG. That movie is beautiful.

and I also love "Milk." I LOVE IT.


BIPP: Are you working on any new movie projects? If so, what is it about?


Austin: WELL. I'm working on "The Worm" as a feature.

I'm about half way through. It's got a great cast: Nadya Ginsburg plays 8 characters and Margaret Cho, Selene Luna, Mario Diaz, Bruce Daniels, and Stephen Heath appear in the film and get eaten in some way or another.

It is bizarre and funny. I'm also releasing two shorts: Jer Ber Jones, "Model For Me" and Jackie Beat's, "Don't Tell Me Your Gay"




BIPP: I love Margaret Cho...


Austin: Margaret is the MASTER of live comedy.


BIPP: I am one of those nerds that loves all the behind the scenes stuff and audio commentaries, do you ever get into doing that sort of thing with your videos?


Austin: Yes! i have a bunch of behind the scenes stuff i'm going to edit together.


BIPP: Is there any particular memory you have that stands out as far as funny stories while in production of a project? Like things that went terribly wrong? Sometimes the worst things that go wrong are the most memorable or funny in retrospect.


Austin: Diamanda Galas made everyone on the set wear black veils and were told not to look at her. Now we shoot alone. She is fabulous. have you heard her new album??? Guilty, Guilty, Guilty! It's a masterpiece. I did the cover.


BIPP: I have not heard the new one, I will have to go take a listen. That is a great story btw... of the black veils. Some of the greatest live performers are so extremely shy or self conscious. It amazes me sometimes. This is the last question and one that I ask all the people I interview... do you have a motto or philosophy that you would like to share with us? Any words that you live by?


Austin: My mind is always telling me loads of crap. I have to constantly tell myself to shut up. Also, the greatest art happens when we get out of the way and just let it happen.


BIPP: Thank you for taking the time to speak with me as you've mentioned you are really busy these days. I am looking forward to seeing The Worm as a feature!! And of course seeing more of your photography... and hopefully a book soon! Thanks again. :)


Austin: It was so great talking to you! Let's hang out next time I'm in Portland.