For this episode I interview Olivia Vale, a Wedding and Event photographer living in Austin Texas. With the announcement of quarantining measures in response to this global pandemic of COVID-19, Olivia had a barrage of cancellations for photography gigs - the Mayor of Austin was preemptive in cancelling South By Southwest and while it saw backlash at the time, it is now clear he likely prevented a major outbreak in doing so. But with the cancellation of that festival, and other events and weddings, Olivia saw nearly a third of her annual income immediately vanish. It didn’t just delay her gigs - it also delayed her own wedding: Olivia would have been married this April, and has had to postpone till next year. So we talk about this: So what does an optimistic extroverted photographer do in a time of no events? What does “Social Distancing” look like in photography, when a high-quality zoom can get you closer to your subjects, but is faced with backlash from viewers who are uneasy by the closeness? What is the role of a photographer in capturing and archiving this unusual time? Olivia in continuing to run an online photo contest “Photo_fantastico” which you can find at https://www.photofantastico.com/, and you can follow Olivia’s own photography at oliviavale.com or on instagram at @Olivia_Vale_photographer
This interview was originally recorded on April 22nd, 2020
