The traditional way of investing has lost its appeal with the younger generation, who have turned their attention to more fashionable and thrill-seeking asset classes. However, experts have warned that while it can be fun to spread your savings into new ideas, the old ways might be best for long-term plans.
Younger investors have found a penchant for alternative investments: asset classes that have been deemed to be more exciting and, at times, more profitable such as art, non-fungible tokens and of course cryptocurrencies. This has been spurred on by better access to new ideas, but more worryingly, sharper marketing from those selling these often unregulated investments.
Recent research from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) only emphasised this point, with young investors 18 per cent more likely to take investment tips from celebrities than they were dating advice. The FCA said it was also concerned at how younger investors were approaching markets. Only 2 per cent had a timeframe of more than five years when investing and 14 per cent had no timeframe at all. Less than a third had any specific long-term goal in mind.
It is not as if the concept of investing is not of interest to ‘Generation Z’, defined as those born in the mid-to-late 1990s. Four in five 16-25 year olds said they invest a portion of their income, according to a survey conducted by the Royal Mint last year. This compares with four in 10 Baby Boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, according to separate research conducted by Hargreaves Lansdown. However while investing is more embedded, what they can afford to buy, and where they put their cash, is very different.
So why have young investors turned their backs on the stock market? Social media has played a huge part. According to the Royal Mint, 23 per cent of ‘Gen Z’ are followers of financial influencers, or ‘finfluencers’, on social media. This has meant many young investors have adopted a ‘get rich quick mentality’, which the stock market is not always good at doing.
Benno Guenther, financial risk management lecturer at the University of Cape Town, said young investors had been promised they would “get rich very quickly without having any knowledge or any money”. “I think people can be quite susceptible to it,” he added. The Royal Mint survey found that two in five Gen Z investors admitted to having a ‘get rich quick’ mentality where they expect to double, or even triple, their savings in a short space of time.
The drawbacks of following advice on social media is that the risk of losing money is high. Almost two thirds (64 per cent) of young people have lost out by adopting this mentality, the Royal Mint found. So while youngsters are often promised high returns, they tend to lose more than they gain.
The FCA issued a joint warning with the Advertising Standards Agency on finfluencers over the risks of promoting ‘get rich quick’ schemes. Tom Selby, head of retirement policy at AJ Bell, says: “One of the big challenges facing UK regulators is that, when it comes to social media, finfluencers are often unregulated individuals pushing unregulated products in a world which is incredibly hard to track and monitor. In the worst-case scenario, finfluencers could encourage followers to invest in scam schemes and end up losing everything.”
In the past few years, cryptocurrency has grasped the minds of young people. Its autonomy and decentralised nature is an appealing factor, especially for those who find themselves disillusioned with the traditional ways of finance and government controlled currencies. However, they tend to be volatile and go through periods of fluctuation.
Myron Jobson, senior personal finance analyst at Interactive Investor, says: “Our research found that 45 per cent of young adults aged between 18 and 29 have made crypto their first investment of choice, with an alarming number funding this through a cocktail of credit cards, student loans and other loans.”
This trend is likely to continue with 21 per cent of 18-24-year-olds intending to buy cryptocurrency in the near future, according to Finder, an investment website. The trouble here is that young investors could fail to make those fast profits that were promised to them by finfluencers as well as full into serious debt. Such major blows could put off young people from investing in the future.
Investing in art has also become more and more attractive to young investors. Collecting a tangible asset is seen as a way of expressing values and beliefs and a way of supporting the creative community. According to a 2022 Study of Wealthy Americans, of art collectors who have purchased a piece in the past 12 months, 83 per cent were young collectors.
Masterworks, a provider of such services, has benefitted from technology making it easier to invest in niche asset classes such as art. It acquires a piece of artwork, establishes a separate company for it through registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and then offers shares to individual investors. The minimum investment required is determined based on someone’s total investment portfolio.
“If you invest in art or an individual painting, you will go on a very interesting knowledge journey that has benefits both intellectually and culturally,” says Evan Bear, executive vice president at Masterworks. When Masterworks sells the painting, each investor shares the profit or loss
According to DollarSprout, the art market delivers returns of 7.6 per cent to investors. Symbolism is not the only benefit of investing in art. The likes of Masterworks have experts doing their research. But buying art means taking your chances on an illiquid asset which makes it difficult to value and sell.
The value of art is often determined by factors such as the artist’s reputation, demand from buyers and rarity of the piece. Such factors can be unpredictable and subject to changes in the market.
Bahamas Tourist Office Los Angeles to be Launched in Late 2023
NASSAU, Bahamas, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation (BMOTIA) continued its successful series of Global Sales and Marketing Missions with stops throughout California, 12 – 14 June where more than 300 guests were hosted. These events are meant to reengage tourism partners and boost visitor arrivals from the area.
The Honourable I. Chester Cooper, Bahamas Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments & Aviation led a delegation of senior tourism officials, including Director General Latia Duncombe, to participate in a number of events that included meetings with key stakeholders and media from across the tourism industry, as well as culturally inspired evenings at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles Beverly Hills in Los Angeles on 12 June, the Viceroy Santa Monica in Santa Monica on 13 June and The Westin South Coast Plaza in Cosa Mesa on 14 June.
Specifically, 44 national and local media received a taste of The Bahamas at Viceroy Santa Monica which featured Bahamian personalities such as Chef Kevyn Pratt and Mixologist Marv Cunningham. Guests were practically transported to The Bahamas via mouth-watering Bahamian-inspired bites with cocktails, music and an electrifying Junkanoo performance. A live Q+A panel highlighted The Bahamas’ steadily growing tourism numbers, plans for future growth and innovation, the beauty and appeal of its 16 islands and the many reasons why The Bahamas is a sought-after destination.
The delegation also engaged in high-level meetings with leaders and industry partners from across the California business, cinema, arts and culture, and sports markets, with agencies such as the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office, the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce, Beverly Hills Convention & Visitors Bureau, the City of Costa Mesa Mayors Office, the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce, Travel Costa Mesa as well as the Sir Sidney Poitier ASU Film School, Amazon Film, Netflix and the Los Angeles Lakers.
In addition, the Deputy Prime Minister made a special live in-studio appearance at KCAL-TV in Los Angeles to further promote JetBlue’s newly announced first-ever nonstop service from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Nassau’s Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA). The inaugural flight launches on 4 Nov. and will make it easier than ever for West Coast travellers to consider visiting The Bahamas for their next vacation.
“We’ve always had a fondness for and a connection with California; and therefore, we wanted to further this relationship and grow tourism in this marketplace,” said DPM Cooper. “We want to use Los Angeles International Airport as a gateway to the Pacific Coast and a gateway to Asia, creating multi destination travel. This is an important prospect for Bahamas tourism.”
The DPM added, “While we are promoting tourism, we have also promoted the development of new industries, as well as, aviation and investments. We had some very interesting meetings on the development of TV and movie products. Regarding these specific talks, we discussed collaborative ways to encourage new professionals in the sector, training, internship, and scholarship opportunities, all with the goal of advancing the overall film industry for The Bahamas.”
DG Duncombe echoed the significance of the missions and gave further insight on the future of Bahamas tourism in the Golden State.
“The islands of The Bahamas consider California to be a vital market, offering an ideal visitor profile, and we are thrilled by the immense possibilities it holds,” expressed Director General Duncombe.
“In addition, our excitement grows as we anticipate the upcoming launch of a Bahamas Tourist Office in Los Angeles. With a dedicated and enthusiastic team, we aim to actively promote our destination and continuously attract a growing number of visitors to the destination.”
The “Bringing The Bahamas to You” Global Missions will return in late summer and fall 2023 with stops in Atlanta, Georgia and the United Kingdom.
Travellers who book their 2023 Bahamas vacation can expect year-long celebrations, events and festivities as the destination commemorates a golden jubilee milestone of 50 years of independence. Highlights from the upcoming 50th independence celebrations include the National Family Island Sailing Regatta; the 50th on Bay Street Festival, an exciting street festival showcasing Bahamian art, cuisine, performances and more; Bahama Rock, a celebration of Bahamian music, and much more.
For more information, visit www.thebahamas.com.
ABOUT THE BAHAMAS
Explore all the islands have to offer at www.bahamas.com or on Facebook, YouTube or Instagram to see why It’s Better in The Bahamas.
PRESS INQUIRIES
Anita Johnson-Patty
Bahamas Ministry of Tourism & Aviation
[email protected]
Weber Shandwick
Public Relations
[email protected]
SOURCE The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation
COLORADO SPRINGS — Pepsico Beverages North America (PBNA) hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking in anticipation of a new state-of-the-art distribution center in Colorado Springs.
Upon its predicted completion in early 2024, the new 115,000-square-foot facility is expected to span 12 acres, which is about the size of 12 football fields. Below is a list of how some of the facility’s space will be utilized:
According to the company, the state-of-the-art center is also proposed to include several types of “industry-leading” features, including a roof designed to support future solar power which will be used to charge delivery fleet pallet jacks, motion-controlled LED light fixtures, and more.
This new facility is a part of PBNA’s longer-term, sustainable investment to bring positive environmental advances to Colorado and beyond.
The new location will expand supply chain operations for popular brands like Pepsi, Celcius, Rockstar, and Gatorade, which will “boost future growth” both in Colorado Springs and Southern Colorado as a whole.
Several members of PBNA leadership and high-ranking members of the community came out to attend the event, including Shawn Early, Marketing Director of PBNA.
Additional details about hiring, technological innovation, facility operations, and community initiatives are to be announced at a later date.
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David Willingham always carries a high-powered camera with a telephoto lens on his nature walks in Shevlin Park. That habit paid off on Sunday when he spotted a cougar and was able to snap a few photos before the animal disappeared behind a rock.
Willingham, an avid bird watcher and amateur wildlife photographer, was hiking in Shevlin Park with his wife and 13-year-old son when he spotted the cougar high up on the hillside, west of Tumalo Creek.
Street photography has been a popular medium for decades, standing in direct contrast to posed, commercial images. Often making a statement about the beauty, absurdity or horrors of everyday life, street photography captures the human condition in its purest form.
In her essay collection On Photography, Susan Sontag compared the street photographer to the “flâneur”, describing them as “adept of the joys of watching” and “connoisseur[s] of empathy”. Equipped with a camera and a unique sense of seeing the world, street photographers often capture the changing of a social or physical landscape, creating a time capsule of images through their work.
One of the greatest yet often overshadowed street photographers was Helen Levitt. Born in 1913 in New York, Levitt’s love for the vibrant city never faded, and she managed to capture its vivaciousness even when she shot in black and white. In the early 1930s, Levitt began working for J. Florian Mitchell, whose commercial photography practises allowed the young photographer to learn skills such as darkroom development.
However, she soon realised that this style of photography wasn’t for her, and after discovering the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson, she decided to take to the streets to capture images. While working as an art teacher, Levitt found herself fascinated by children’s culture, how they played on the streets, and the styles of chalk graffiti they stencilled on walls.
The photographer regularly took her camera on walks around the city, where she would snap images of these interests, mainly depicting children playing without regard for their own safety, absent of parental supervision. She also photographed adults, and her work often highlighted social issues that were prevalent in New York at the time.
In the book Helen Levitt from the Photofile series, Jean-Francois Chevrier writes: “Levitt captured the vitality of the street as an unofficial playground – and place of interaction – in working-class neighbourhoods. She had seen the way that different ethnic minorities coexisted – sometimes peacefully, sometimes contentiously – in the Brooklyn of her childhood, or on the Lower East Side and the neighbourhoods of Upper Manhatten – Harlem, Spanish Harlem – where most of the images from 1936 onwards were taken.”
Levitt’s images were never obtrusive or exploitative, and her subjects were photographed with care and interest. Whether Levitt was focusing on tired subway users or crowds of children adorning the pavements with chalk, the photographer painted a picture of a New York that no longer exists in the same state. As she got older, Levitt exclaimed: “I go where there’s a lot of activity. Children used to be outside. Now the streets are empty. People are indoors looking at television or something.”
She took inspiration from Surrealism, which might not be obvious at first glance since her images focus on the unedited realities of everyday life. However, she was often preoccupied with taking an absurd angle, finding natural instances of surrealism in people, places and their relations to one another. One of Levitt’s most striking images features two children, one leaning against a tree and another straddling the trunk from quite a height. The latter is wearing a white mask and is looking directly into the camera, despite the distance, giving the image an uncanny, almost horror-like sensibility.
Levitt’s forays into colour photography were rich and almost dream-like, the vibrancy of the tones giving even the most run-down scenes a sense of innate beauty. Levitt’s ability to imbue the most banal locations with interest made her an extraordinary photographer, and she deserves more recognition for her contributions to the medium.
Not only was Levitt a skilled photographer, but she was also interested in filmmaking. She worked on several projects, including the documentary The Quiet One, which she co-wrote and co-filmed. It was nominated for ‘Best Documentary Feature’ and ‘Best Original Screenplay’ at the Academy Awards, making Levitt one of the first few women to earn recognition from the prestigious organisation in a non-gendered category.
Check out some of Levitt’s photos below.
Current and former staff members, along with her subjects, share memories of working with the revered “wild card” shutterbug.
If you ask an editor or art director, “What’s the key to a successful photo shoot?,” they’ll likely tell you it’s hiring the right photographer for the right story. LeAnn Mueller was almost always the right photographer. Barbecue royalty, LeAnn was also an accomplished visual artist and a beloved contributor to Texas Monthly for almost two decades. Her natural ability to disarm her subjects made for striking portraits, but she also had a gift for art in a broader sense, creating beauty in landscapes, reportage, and even the occasional photo illustration, which often involved more time in front of the computer than behind the camera.
LeAnn traveled to all corners of Texas on assignment (often with her wife and photo assistant, Ali Clem): to Sutherland Springs to document the grief of a small town after a mass shooting; to Crockett to tell the story of legendary bull rider Myrtis Dightman; to Archer to capture the gravitas of Larry McMurtry; and back to her home city of Austin to make portraits of Lyle Lovett and Richard Linklater. And every time, she came back with a collection of iconic photos—and a wild story or two as well.
Here, her colleagues and subjects share their memories of working with her over the years.
Emily Kimbro, Texas Monthly creative director:
I first met LeAnn (who by then was already on speed dial in the art department) and Ali in 2015 at a photo shoot of a musician here in Austin. LeAnn spent exactly five minutes scouting and ten minutes shooting (she’d of course nailed the perfect shot within the first few seconds), before we spent the rest of the evening enjoying beers. In the years that followed, I was lucky enough to work with her on shoots for more stories. Her subjects ranged from artists, politicians, and other big Texas personalities to barbecue joints, rodeos, and honky tonks (and sometimes even politicians at honky tonks). LeAnn was up for anything, and she could make any moment feel iconic.
Christian Wallace, Texas Monthly staff writer:
One truth about working at a magazine: it’s a team sport. The best work happens when everyone who touches the story—the writer, the editors, fact-checkers, and the art department—are firing on all cylinders. As a young writer mostly concerned about words, I didn’t really understand just how vital this team dynamic was until I saw the photographs accompanying my first cover story.
I had written a profile of Myrtis Dightman, a legendary bull rider from East Texas, and my editor and I had done all we could to harness his incredible life story on the page. But then we got back the portraits of Dightman, and those photos elevated the entire piece. They went beyond simple portraiture— they captured his essence. That cover is one of the most iconic images this magazine has produced in its fifty-year history. And the genius behind the camera was LeAnn Mueller.
I was lucky enough to work with LeAnn on two more covers, though her subject for these was far less compelling than Dightman: me. For the first, a story about honky-tonks, we traveled to Bandera to shoot in Arkey Blue’s Silver Dollar, one of the state’s great watering holes. The art department wanted to shoot folks dancing on the sawdust floor, and I brought my two-stepping parents to act as models. LeAnn, accompanied by Ali, started shooting as the couples started twirling around the dance floor, but it was awkward without music. I was asked to drop a few quarters in the jukebox. While I was flipping through records, Lone Star beer in hand, I heard the camera start clicking behind me. One of those impromptu pictures ended up as the cover. Seeing and capturing those natural, unstaged moments was part of LeAnn’s brilliance.
I didn’t know LeAnn well. We didn’t spend much time together outside of these photo shoots. Still, it was clear that she was a rarity—an artist living deeply, close to the marrow of life. She worked hard and played even harder. While her talents were undeniable, she seemed to approach everything in her life with a fierce determination to wring the joy and beauty out of every moment.
The last time I saw her was at her Austin restaurant, la Barbecue. I had come by to drop off copies of our final collaboration, a cover she shot of me and my dog sitting on the tailgate of my pickup. It was the most personal story I had written for the magazine, but I was comforted knowing I’d be working with LeAnn. At least the pictures would be good. And they were. When I stopped by la Barbecue that day, LeAnn and Ali were having a party on the patio with a wild group of friends. They welcomed me and stuffed me with brisket and champagne. It was a damn good party. At one point that evening, I was talking with one of their friends. Nodding at Ali and LeAnn, he said being in their presence was something to not take for granted. I had to agree.
Victoria Millner, Texas Monthly design director:
When I arrived to my first photoshoot on location with LeAnn in 2015, I think we’d budgeted about three hours of time with Shakey Graves. Little did I know, she was a wizard that could do multiple setups faster than anyone I’d ever worked with. And, of course, they were all winning shots, which made selecting photos a Herculean task. I think you could put together an iconic photo book just from the leftover photos we didn’t have room to publish. So the three hours of shoot time worked out to about fifteen minutes of photographing Shakey and about five hours of us all playing darts and shooting the breeze at Casino Southside. She had really figured out the whole work-hard, play-hard formula, and will be deeply missed for both.
Claire Hogan, Texas Monthly photo editor, 2017–2023:
I don’t remember when I first met LeAnn, only that I was an intern at Austin Monthly at the time and was probably intimidated. It may have had to do with the fact she had photographed and spent time with people I had only ever seen on screens. But more than likely, it was because she moved through the world speaking her mind—unafraid to ruffle feathers—and I’d never encountered anyone quite like her. But in the past nine years, intimidation was replaced by camaraderie.
When I think about my career thus far, she’s been one of the most consistent presences in it, along with Ali. I’ll miss witnessing LeAnn patiently coax some of the most stone-faced subjects into big toothy smiles on set. I’ll miss spotting her as she balances on a wobbly chair, hangs over the edge of a staircase, or pops up out of a sunroof to get “the shot.” I’ll miss her emails peppered with smiley faces with multiple chins. I’ll miss her.
And as a byproduct of missing LeAnn, I will also miss her photographs. LeAnn was truly a one-of-a-kind photographer, and she loved challenges so much she often created them for herself. She’d see something too beautiful and find ways to make it gritty and dynamic. She’d nail a traditionally well-composed shot, and then she’d be on the ground, shooting dramatically upward, usually directly into a light source, in a manner that’d make you think, “There’s no way these are turning out better than the first shots we got.” But those were the shots that always won out. She also rarely walked into a location having scouted it beforehand, but she’d almost always walk out with twice as many shots as we’d planned, the surplus being a result of ideas she’d had on the fly. I ended up huddled around a computer screen with our designers more times than I can count, trying to figure out how we could use more of her images in the magazine. And because LeAnn was also a master retoucher, her final images always offered a second chance to be blown away by her talent.
One of my favorite memories on set with LeAnn was a time I saw her a little out of character. For the December 2019 issue, we hired LeAnn to photograph Lyle Lovett. The two of them had never met before and yet when LeAnn walked through the door of Texas Traditions boot shop, Lyle recognized her immediately. “You’re LeAnn Mueller,” he said. This caught her momentarily off guard, but LeAnn responded after only a beat with, “And you’re Lyle Lovett. How do you know who I am?” The next words out of Lyle’s mouth made her grin because, a photographer in his own right, he was being sincere. “You’re famous,” he stated. Her grin broke into a laugh, and I think that’s one of the only times I ever saw a subject put the charm on LeAnn for a change.
John Spong, Texas Monthly staff writer:
The first time I met LeAnn was when she shot a portrait of Phil Collins for a 2011 feature I wrote on his love of the Alamo. I don’t think she realized it going in, but the deck was stacked against her. Phil, it turns out, is a shockingly nice and normal person. But his nearly lifelong fascination with Davy Crockett, and the ever-growing collection of artifacts from the Texas Revolution it inspired, had become international news.
While his dedication may have made perfect sense to Texans, the wider world thought it was weird. So “press shy” doesn’t begin to describe how he was feeling when he ushered LeAnn and me into his room at the Hyatt Riverwalk in San Antonio, his favorite suite overlooking the Alamo, on a Saturday morning that April. When he noticed LeAnn’s preparation for the shoot—a coonskin cap fell from her bag when she pulled out her tripod—he coldly noted, “Well, I’ll not be putting that on,” and turned to look out the window.
That’s when LeAnn went to work. She had a quick, cut-to-the-chase charm. “Well, s—, I had to try,” she said, unloading the other props she’d brought onto his unmade bed. Somehow, this tickled Phil. They started to talk, trading stories about old trips to the Alamo, then moving on to other corners of Texas history and eventually, of course, barbecue. Maybe Phil realized he was encountering, if not Texas royalty, then certainly our peerage. Or more likely, he was just taken in by LeAnn being LeAnn. They connected. And he trusted her.
LeAnn’s portrait that ran with the piece is perfect. Phil’s gaze is formal, intense, and almost defiant. The collar of his shirt is popped, as is his wont. And on the shirt’s left breast is an embroidered patch depicting the famous façade of the old mission. LeAnn had picked up the shirt that morning at the Alamo gift shop, and Phil had been happy to put it on.
Andy Langer, Texas Monthly writer-at-large:
I consider myself lucky to have had LeAnn shoot the photos for multiple music profiles I’ve written for this magazine. I worked with her two or three times before I realized her role in maintaining and expanding her family’s barbecue legacy. Perhaps it didn’t occur to me because she was so confident, comfortable, and talented as a photographer, I just assumed this was her full-time livelihood.
In 2015, we met in Fort Worth for a piece on Leon Bridges a few months before he exploded onto the national scene. It was Leon’s first big photo shoot, and he told me he was anxious about it for days. LeAnn made those nerves disappear almost immediately by simply asking him to do the thing he was comfortable doing: playing guitar and singing. Truly great music photos are the images that pop into your head when you hear certain names mentioned, and for me, that series of photos of Leon, relaxed and smiling ear to ear, is still exactly how I picture him.
Two years later, for my cover story on the new state of Texas music, LeAnn shot Leon and Gary Clark Jr. together in Houston. We’d planned to shoot at the Heights Theater, but the lighting didn’t work. She quickly switched gears and fashioned a backdrop at Heights Mercantile, a funky clothing shop down the street from the theater. It made for one of the magazine’s most memorable covers in years.
We were almost always working when we saw each other, but I remain grateful for the opportunity to be a fly on the wall and watch her make my stories infinitely better. Like many great portrait photographers, she fully understood the nuanced (and often silent) conversation that has to take place between photographers and subjects. It’s rare to find someone who equally understood people, the mechanics of photography, and the demands of magazine journalism. Lots of people do one of those things well—very few can do all three. And I know no one else who could do all three while also changing the landscape of barbecue. She was truly singular. May her memory be a blessing.
Barry Corbin, actor known for roles in Northern Exposure, No Country for Old Men, and Urban Cowboy, as told to Texas Monthly staff writer Mike Hall:
LeAnn shot photos of character actor Barry Corbin at his Fort Worth home on November 23, 2020 (see gallery above).
LeAnn was so full of life, I figured she’d be going forever. I liked her a lot. She talked like a barbecue chef. We sat and talked for a while before we even started, just getting to know each other. We took some photos with me on horseback. I got on an old paint horse here and prodded it around a little bit in the backyard. That’s the first time I’d been on a horse in about a year. Then, we went in my office and she was just taking some portraits. And she said, “Have you got anything else you’d like to do?” And I started making faces and goofing around. She had that ability to put you at ease, you know? I’m used to photographers and I’m used to having my picture taken, but it’s always good to have somebody that you can, you know, relax with.
Brian Johnson, Texas Monthly art director, 2009–2014:
Such a loss in energy and talent. LeAnn’s process was definitely organic, but the final result was always beyond. The level of style and depth she could capture made working with her images both incredibly exciting and fairly intimidating. [Pitmaster] Roy Perez, cowgirls, the Playboy sign in Marfa: I can remember the feeling of seeing all of these shoots for the first time. So much joy.
Nicki Longoria, Texas Monthly art producer, 2008–2016
We first met on assignment for Texas Monthly, back in 2011. I was a newly minted member of the art department, and I was to ride along with her to shoot another real live wire, Billy Joe Shaver. I was nervous to go on the shoot because it was my first one for the magazine and I had heard LeAnn was a wild card. After a near-miss car accident mere blocks from the office, we both looked at each other, laughed, and instantly knew we would be friends.
We drove to Shaver’s house in Waco, listened to the clicks and clacks of him undoing the tower of locks lining his front door with raised eyebrows, and stepped into the dark, wood-paneled house filled with taxidermy. None of this remotely fazed her. She walked in there like she was walking into her own house. I watched her introduce herself, start setting up her gear, and make small talk. Little by little, I could see Shaver loosen up. She got him in place and went to work, keeping the chatter going and getting some laughs out of Shaver. He was so comfortable, he offered to show off a small pistol he had tucked away in his pocket. A pistol in the pocket of a Texan is not a rarity by any means, but at the time Shaver was in the midst of dealing with some legal issues involving a firearm—an outlaw is as an outlaw does.
Shortly after the story ran, LeAnn gave me two signed prints from that shoot, and ever since, the watchful eye of Shaver has been over my shoulder. For her to love you was to feel like the luckiest person on the planet. My luck started on that day and will be with me forever.
