Matthew Busch

Photographer / Videographer / Writer

Texas' Summer From Hell

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Location: Austin, Texas

Nationality: American

Biography: Matthew is an American photographer whose work often looks inward, exploring themes of belonging, relationships, and memory through his photographs and writings. His work often examines subcultures in America and elsewhere, looking closely at how... MORE

Nathaniel Finley, 65, endures t...last year.”

Nathaniel Finley, 65, endures the heat outside the storm tunnel he currently lives in on the outskirts of San Antonio. Finley has been unhoused for the last 15 years, which he attributes to injuries that have left him unable to work and past drug use. “It’s gotten hard to sleep at night because of the humidity,” he says. “The humidity flows through the tunnel. It wasn’t like this last year.”

Sergio Palacios, 35, carries a...mperature reached 101 degrees.

Sergio Palacios, 35, carries a case of water to his morning soccer game in Austin. The National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning on July 24 for areas of South Texas, including Austin, where the temperature reached 101 degrees.

Dayana Gamoneda, 23, gives wat...ter this photograph was taken.

Dayana Gamoneda, 23, gives water to her 2-month-old nephew Michael Madrid in order to keep him cool as they work outdoors in a Montopolis neighborhood market in Austin. He was brought into air conditioning shortly after this photograph was taken.

Urban heat islands are created ...ffort to combat climate change.

Urban heat islands are created in city spaces where impermeable materials such as asphalt, concrete, and metal absorb more heat than surrounding rural green areas and fail to release it at night. This photograph depicts the scene outside of San Antonio’s Central Library. The San Antonio City Council adopted its first “Climate Action and Adaptation Plan,” in October 2019 that has the goal of making San Antonio carbon neutral by 2050, meaning that the city will contribute net zero carbon into the atmosphere in an effort to combat climate change.

Firefighters with the Travis Co...at can serve as fuel for fires.

Firefighters with the Travis County Fire Department along with Travis County STAR Flight work to put out a brush fire in a wooded area behind a small suburban enclave on Travis County’s east side. Will Boettner, the Wildfire Mitigation Officer for Travis County, says that more homes being built outside of city limits—and out of reach of city regulations—are at greater wildfire risk because of their proximity to rural, wooded areas that can serve as fuel for fires.

Firefighters with the Travis Co...using dry conditions.

Firefighters with the Travis County Fire Department return after putting out a brush fire on the county’s east side. Will Boettner, a wildfire mitigation officer, says that the county has seen an increase in fires this year, with persistent heat and lack of rain causing dry conditions.

Jimy Perdomo, 37, a mobile mech...e returning to work on a client

Jimy Perdomo, 37, a mobile mechanic, takes a break under the shade of a small tree before returning to work on a client

Austin residents cool off at wh...emperature reached 100 degrees.

Austin residents cool off at what is locally known as “Barking Springs,” a spillway that extends just outside of the Barton Springs natural swimming pool. The National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning that day for areas of South Texas, including Austin, where the temperature reached 100 degrees.

Ivan Mayo, 26, sweats while he ...Austin UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Ivan Mayo, 26, sweats while he sets up Shawarma Point food truck for their evening work hours without the benefit of an air conditioning unit on Thursday, August 4, 2022 when the heat index reached 104 degrees Fahrenheit. He says that they plan to install an air conditioning unit into the truck soon as the heat is expected to continue throughout August. Austin UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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Public Story

Texas' Summer From Hell

Copyright Matthew Busch 2023

Updated Sep 2022

Location Texas

Topics Art, Climate, Climate Change, Community, Documentary, Editorial, Energy, Environment, Essays, Fine Art, Fire, Globalization, Health, Homelessness, Industrial, Journalism, Landscape, Nature, Oil, Personal Projects, Photography, Photojournalism, Politics, Poverty, Reportage, Social Justice, Swimming, Texas, Travel, US Politics, Usa, Water, World

Summary

Texas heat wave sets new temperature records across the state and leaves those most vulnerable ever more exposed to the effects of climate change.

Mention the month of July 2022 to Texans along the Austin-San Antonio corridor, and it will likely conjure involuntary feelings of relentless, all-consuming heat. All things being unequal, many of us escaped into air-conditioned homes, offices, and cars. If we lived close enough to a pool or a place like Austin’s Barton Springs, and we could afford the entry fee, we dove in. But those who live and work outdoors, or don’t have access to air conditioning, faced the full force of the summer—blistering even by Texas standards. Houston, Austin, and San Antonio all recorded record-high July temperatures; the state also set a new record for peak electricity usage, then broke it six more times before the month’s end.
For me, perhaps the most striking statistic comes from Austin’s EMS department: 223 “heat-related incidents”—including heat exhaustion or stroke—were recorded in July this year, compared to 85 in July 2021. This figure represents the elderly, the young, the infirm, anyone waiting on a bus too long while standing unshaded on the pavement. It represents those most vulnerable to our state’s weather extremes, which are set to become only more dangerous as the climate crisis advances.
In this photo essay, I’ve tried to document the visceral experience of heat in Austin and San Antonio. One-month-old Michael Madrid receives capfuls of water from his aunt as she tends to the family’s stalls at a southeast Austin flea market (he was brought into air conditioning shortly after the photograph was taken). A scene of asphalt, concrete, and metal outside San Antonio’s Central Library shows how impermeable materials create urban “heat islands,” an effect often concentrated in poor and non-white neighborhoods.
Possible solutions are in the works: San Antonio has been experimenting with a cool pavement seal coat, which currently covers the east side of the Hays Street Bridge, to help bring down surface temperatures, and the City of Austin is working with the University of Texas and East Austin community groups on a heat map to target heat-mitigation efforts. For now, though, Texans must sweat through it—some each year sadly succumbing—all of us praying the electric grid will hold, and hoping this won’t be the coolest summer of the rest of our lives.