Street Photography treatment for PTSD with Shawn Augustson

Nov 15, 2018

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Here’s a quick reminder about our Facebook group. It’s still small and very active with some very talented and passionate street photographers. You can join it by visiting talkstreetphotography.com. That link will take you straight to the join page.

If you tried to join over the last 2 weeks please accept my apologies for any delays. I didn’t realize it, but I was logged in as myself instead of the group administration, which means I didn’t see the requests to join. It’s funny because I was getting worried that nobody had joined in almost 2 weeks and I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Turns out, it was just user error. I should have known better.

Please note that I will be away with very limited Internet access until November 20, so it might take a few days to be approved. I’m looking at adding a couple moderators in the near future to keep things moving.

I’ll be speaking at the Miami Street Photography Festival on Friday, December 7 . The subject is Leave Your Photographic Legacy in a Digital World. I don’t know the time yet, but I’ll share that when I have it. If you plan to attend the festival please look me up. I’d love to meet you in person. This will be my first time there, but I hear it’s one of the best festivals of the year. This year it will be held from December 6 through the 10th at the History Miami Museum in downtown Miami. Don’t miss it.

Our guest Shawn Augustson

Our guest this week is someone you really need to get to know. Shawn Augustson, is a street photographer and artist from Columbus, Ohio. After serving his country in Iraq for 2 years he returned home with a seriously injured back and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I can’t even imagine what he went through, but it was really rough.

As part of his recovery he took part in art therapy where he learned he has a natural talent for painting. When a therapist recommended he try photography he began shooting on the street. Over time it helped him to reduce his stress and anxiety to the point that he is almost completely off medication.

Today he is a successful artist with many gallery showings under his belt, avid street photographer and he helps other vets use photography and art to deal with their own PTSD. After you listen to the podcast be sure to watch the video on this podcast post on our website to learn more about Shawn and his work. It’s an inspiring story.

Use the audio player link above to have a listen to my conversation with Shawn Augustson.