Despite continued growth in subscription and streaming services, Austin continues to host a healthy physical media community.
From shelves of secondhand movies to a lively VHS swap, this photo essay explores how Austin Video Store and We Luv Video bring collectors, filmmakers and movie fans together through physical media.
Signs outside Austin Video Store in Austin advertise its buy-sell-trade business. The shop offers movies, music and playback equipment rather than rentals. 
Austin Video Store owner Nick Kiowski stands beside a display of cathode-ray tube televisions at his Austin shop. Kiowski left an engineering job at Cloudflare to run the store full time. 
VHS tapes, DVDs and Blu-ray discs fill shelves at Austin Video Store in Austin. Trade-ins supply most of the store’s inventory, owner Nick Kiowski said. 
DVD sets of “The Simpsons” and “The Real Ghostbusters” sit on a shelf at Austin Video Store in Austin. The shop buys, sells and trades physical media. 
Keanna browses CDs at Austin Video Store in Austin. Keanna said she prefers owning physical media to paying for streaming services she rarely uses. 
We Luv Video staff member Laura Perna helps visitors at the checkout counter in Austin. Volunteers help run the nonprofit rental library, shelving movies, checking out titles and making recommendations. 
A skull, a monster mask and a witch figurine decorate a shelf of VHS tapes at We Luv Video in Austin. Members can borrow movies and playback equipment from the nonprofit library. 
A customer stands at the checkout counter as We Luv Video staff member Laura Perna works behind it during a VHS exchange in Austin. DVDs are the library’s most-rented format, co-founder Macy Cotton said. 
VHS tapes and collectibles fill a participant’s outdoor setup during a VHS exchange at We Luv Video in Austin. We Luv Video is a volunteer-run nonprofit that carries on I Luv Video’s legacy and preserves part of its collection. 
Customers talk at an independent local vendor’s setup during a VHS exchange at We Luv Video in Austin. 
Two customers stand beside We Luv Video’s microcinema during a VHS exchange in Austin. The nonprofit hosts screenings, including work by local filmmakers. 
A cathode-ray tube television plays beside stacks of movies and video games during a VHS exchange at We Luv Video in Austin. The setup belongs to an independent local vendor participating in the event. 
A handwritten “ATX Stuff” sign labels a shelf holding “Dazed and Confused” and “The Devil and Daniel Johnston” in Austin. The shelf highlights local films and filmmakers. 
A LaserDisc copy of “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” is held beside a shelf at Austin Video Store in Austin. The shop carries older movie formats as well as equipment for playing them. 
Customers browse movies during a VHS exchange at We Luv Video in Austin, where collectors gather to share physical media. We Luv Video rents out DVD and VHS players for members who don’t have one.
Photos by Michael Jasso
