The open road with LA-based photographer of all things beautiful, Laura Austin
In Huck’s Adventure Issue we joined up with a motley crew of headstrong characters to explore uncharted territory. We learned that adventure means a whole load of different things to different people, from a polar expedition for explorer Ben Saunders to seeing New York City through an outsider’s eyes for skate photographer Pep Kim.
With the Adventure Pop Quiz, we’re reaching out to people from the issue and others from Huck’s world to find out more about what adventure means to them and where their hunger for new experiences has taken them.
In this pop quiz distinguished life-liver Laura Austin – a photographer, writer, traveller, lover of action sports based in LA but to be spotted, mostly, at rare places all over the world – reveals the thoughts and motivations behind her time spent on the road. Follow the visual storyteller on Instagram where stylish snapshots of nature, beautiful people and coffee spots will give you life envy intense enough to make you up sticks.
What do you picture when you hear the word ‘adventure’?
Any situation in which you don’t know exactly what it will entail or lead to.
What did adventure mean to you when you were a kid?
A way to keep yourself occupied when growing up in tiny mountain towns.
What does adventure mean to you now?
It’s my reset button when I need to get my head straight.
When was the last time you felt completely out of your comfort zone?
Being surrounded by too many superficial people.
When were you last scared?
Climbing up Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park.
What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?
Solo road trip across the country when I was 18.
Who is the most adventurous person you know?
Tough call… probably Francis Mallmann if we are talking in both mindset and actually travelling.
If your life was an adventure novel, what would the title be?
Insatiable.
When was the last time you saw something completely new for the first time?
Just recently on my trip to Scotland… from landscapes, to architecture, to food, and bars full of golfers.
How do you bring adventure into your everyday life?
By keeping an open mind.
Complete the sentence: A life without adventure is…..?
A life wasted.
If you were on a yoga retreat, or in therapy, and were told to picture ‘your happy place’, what would it look like?
In the drivers’ seat of a car going anywhere really, without any timeline or destination.
What in life gets your adrenalin pumping?
New experiences.
If you had to walk around the world, what would you carry in your backpack?
My camera, a knife, clean socks… and a teleporter.
What book / film / song makes you wanna go an adventure?
Book – On The Road by Jack Kerouac. Film – The Salt Of The Earth. Song – ‘Going Up The Country’, Canned Heat
What’s the one thing on your bucket list you’ve never told anyone about before?
To find a significant other that I’d want to travel the world with.
Read more about adventure in Huck 51 – The Adventure Issue. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss another issue.
You might like
What went down at Huck’s 20th birthday party
84 issues and counting — We took over east London’s Jaguar Shoes with friends old and new to celebrate two decades and our new issue, with Tony Bontana taking the decks for a special set.
Photos of friends, lovers and afters in Berlin’s party scene
Dreams and How to Keep Them – Vincent Wechselberger’s new monograph documents a decade of hedonism in the German capital, and the people he met along the way.
Inside the Los Angeles scene kid revival
The Rawring ’20s — For the cover of Huck 84, photographer Alexis Gross and writer Anna Zanes meet the latest faces of scene, who are finding freedom to express themselves through its technicolour, unafraid aesthetic.
Introducing our new issue of Huck Magazine: It Starts With Us
Huck 84 — For our second 20th anniversary issue, we spotlight 20 people and groups providing the world with a hopeful future.
The sharp rise of video game photography
Point, shoot — As the entertainment medium’s fidelity levels increase and developers build more powerful tools, a growing community of gamers are pushing the boundaries of image making in virtual worlds. Vicky Jessop meets people at the forefront of the emerging artform.
Joyous photos from the heart of the UK’s radical free festival movement
Common Grounds — The photographer has been capturing British counterculture for the past half century. A new exhibition looks at his archive sitting at the intersection of music, community and grassroots protest.
