Austin Horne | Photographic Nights of Selma Festival - Photo festival - Alabama

Back to all photogtapher 2026 edition

Austin Horne

« Behind the Sound »

Biography:

I am a photographer, filmmaker, musician and journalist exploring how image, sound and story
connect. Rooted in Alabama, I am drawn to the people, performances and creative communities
around me, especially moments that might otherwise pass unnoticed.
Attention is at the center of my practice: light across a face, a performer’s movement, the feeling
in a room before something important happens or an expression that says more than words. I
respond to what is already there, creating work that feels honest, intentional and alive.
My background as a saxophonist shapes how I see. Rhythm, timing, phrasing and emotion carry
into my visual work. I think of a photograph as having rhythm even when it is still, and of video
as moving like a song through pacing, sound and silence. I want to convey not only how a
moment looked, but how it felt to be there.
My work centers on portraits, live performance, student life and community stories. Whether
shaping a portrait or documenting an event, I want people to feel seen rather than simply
photographed. Journalism has taught me that this requires listening, trust and an understanding
that stories belong to real people.
Place and memory also guide me. Alabama has shaped how I understand community, identity,
tradition and change. Photography, film and writing allow me to preserve a person’s words, a
passing expression or the atmosphere of a season. I do not see these disciplines as separate.
Together, they help me create thoughtful, human work that allows people to feel seen, heard and
remembered.

USA

https://austinhorne.media

https://www.instagram.com/austinhorne.media/

https://www.facebook.com/austin.horne.965

Behind the Sound

At Troy University, the Sound of the South marching band brings hundreds of students together through music and movement. Having marched in the band for three seasons before becoming a staff member, I photograph a community I have experienced from within. *Behind the Sound* grows out of that familiarity, following the rehearsals, performances and everyday work that shape life in the ensemble.

The photographs move between public performances and moments surrounding them. Musicians gather in a stadium tunnel, laugh together in the stands and rest in the shade. Equipment is moved, instruments are readied and students wait for their next entrance. Alongside these moments, rows of performers fill streets and fields, bringing individual gestures into a larger, coordinated form. Across the series, preparation, friendship and performance become parts of the same experience.

My role allows me to move through these spaces as both a participant and an observer. I know the routines and share many of the responsibilities of the people I photograph. That connection guides my attention toward expressions, interactions and familiar tasks that can become easy to overlook. A smile between musicians or a brief pause during a long day carries its own significance within the demands of the season.

Behind the Sound considers how a large ensemble is sustained through individual effort and shared experience. The photographs shift between the scale of the band and the closeness of the people within it, tracing the relationship between discipline and spontaneity, work and enjoyment. Together, they record how the time spent rehearsing, waiting, performing and packing away becomes part of belonging to the Sound of the South.