Community Salute: Photo project puts Austin on a pedestal

Published 5:55 pm Friday, March 3, 2023

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Our Community Salute this week isn’t for one group or another or  even one person in particular.

It’s a celebration of all of us that make up our community in the face of the recent news that the “Our Austin, Our America” project by photographer William Taufic has been selected to be the first of seven projects displayed at the Minnesota Capitol’s 3rd Floor Gallery starting later this month.

Taufic’s project is an amazing capture of Austin’s unique make-up, but the photographer himself will tell you that it’s not his project as much as it’s Austin’s. Taufic was able to shine the light on what is essentially Austin — a community of people literally coming from all over the world to make Austin a beacon of diversity.

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A welcoming community for all who recognize the strengths of this city.

The book, “Our Austin, Our American,” is available at Sweet Reads Books and Candy in Austin and will be available at the project’s debut at the Capitol on Monday, March 13.  It features 50 portraits of Austin’s diversity. Photos that not only bring the light of many together, but also show off the benefits of a community drawing on so many backgrounds from so many places.

And now the state will know of Austin and how it turned a community of so many languages into a model of a strong, healthy and vibrant community.

We now have another opportunity to put on full display how a city can thrive when it takes all of its citizens into account in an effort to make a stronger tomorrow.