We’re looking forward to introducing you to Austin Vidmar. Check out our conversation below.
Austin, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: Who are you learning from right now?
Generally I am learning from myself. But to be more specific I am learning from my past experiences that have built the person that I am today. I am learning from the environment around me, the people I interact with daily, and the people I meet. Moving back to a big city has helped me learn from the community around me.
When it comes to my photography business I am learning from past experiences. I go over what went right and what went wrong after every shoot. I am not perfect by all means but the goal is to improve every time I pick up my camera. In the beginning I would book a photo shoot and just go with the flow. I would ask for expectations from my client and that was about it. Now, being in photography for 10+ years, I always plan ahead. I like to get inspiration from other photographers and websites. I research the location we are shooting at and try to picture what my photos will look like in post-production. Sometimes I go visit the location to get a better feel and basically create a mock photo shoot. I think this is similar to how someone could prepare for a speech they are giving. If you practice the speech the night before or even the day of, you will have to look at your notes, think off the top of your head, and it won’t run as smooth. If you practice every day for a week before the presentation, you will be much more prepared. You can engage with the audience and you can be confident with the words that you are saying. I like to rehearse and prepare for all of my photo shoots, so that when the day comes I can be confident in leading my subject.
Learning from my regular day environment lets me understand my surroundings better which translates into how I proceed with my day. A recent experience for me was taking public transportation to work in the early morning. I moved back to Chicago recently and I was taking the train to my regular job. I was running a little late and jumped on the CTA and boy, was it crowded. I am talking wall to wall people. This left me feeling anxious and uncomfortable which in return, made an unpleasant start to my day. What I learned was to leave the house a little earlier and walk to the end of the train where I could see that less people were boarding. This eased my mind, made my day a little better, and overall helped me not start off my day as a ball of stress. While repeating our regular day schedule, we can learn to adjust in ways that provide overall satisfaction for ourselves.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
To start, my name is Austin and I live in Chicago. I have a love for live music, socializing & dancing, trying new things, and exploring the city! I graduated from Loyola University in 2019 with a BA in Studio Art: Photography. My current full-time position is at Levi’s where I am a key holder. I have worked for Levi’s for 8 years. On top of that I have a variety of side hustles from media positions to cleaning jobs to design work. My biggest side hustle would be AV Photos, my freelance photography company. I started AV Photos in 2015. I focused on portraits, wedding photography, and large scale events. Over the last couple years I have geared towards the live music industry. I have always wanted to be a music photographer and I have finally been making a breakthrough. I just shot at my first ever North Coast Music Festival. In my free time I like to create original projects to showcase the range of photography that my business offers. I also use these projects to push my limits and work on my weaknesses. Every shoot I learn something new and I continue to grow.
I like to think that I am a renaissance photographer. I dabble in every genre of photography, which makes my business versatile. Some of my skills are greater in certain aspects but what I cherish most is that I work with my client from start to finish, grasping their vision, and figuring out the best way to make their vision come to life so they can hold onto those moments forever. It can be hard balancing my full time job and my business but I continue to push through the struggles to grow every single day.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
A moment that truly shaped my outlook on the world around me was COVID-19. For most this was an entire year of lock down and self isolation. For me it was just another year of work, with less socializing on the weekends. I look back and think about how I was unable to see my family and friends, I wasn’t able to travel as much, and I couldn’t see live music. It instantly broke my heart having to cancel my graduation ceremony and my golden birthday party plans. My retail store closed down and I wasn’t getting any photography bookings. But I did continue my job as an UberEats driver to continue to make money during the pandemic. I saw the world change daily. I was in the midst of businesses closing, regulation signs going up, and all the ghost town streets that used to be busy with people.
What helped shaped how I see the world was how us, as a country & world, reacted to COVID-19. The lack of empathy and compassion was mind blowing. So many people would disregard the simple regulations and laugh when the vaccine came out. There was countless deaths every single day and people still thought the whole thing was made up. I saw how much hate and ignorance there was in the world and it gave me a chance to sit back and think about how did our world get this way.
This also shaped who I am today. First, I took the time to document the change in the world with my “COVID-19 & Me” photography project. (showcased on my Instagram) I drew up some interview questions and reached out to my followers to help me see how COVID-19 impacted them. I got to meet some new people (6ft away of course) & showcase the way the continued their lives through the pandemic. It was interesting to see how many people were still risking their lives as essential workers just to provide for their families and also who was taking this time to be creative or try something new. Second, I documented lots of aspects of my daily UberEats shifts. I photographed all the regulation signage that I saw, including “6ft away” signs and “please wear your mask” signs. I photographed people with their masks on. I photographed the insides of businesses, to document their removal of seating to make more space or their dots on the ground so customers knew where to stand. I even documented the closed businesses or the ones that adapted.
To bring this full circle, COVID-19 also showed me how we as a community can work together and adapt to an uncertain time. I saw businesses build outdoor seating when they were approved to re-open. Uber even updated the “leave at door, no contact” delivery status. In the end, we eventually got to a point where we could be together again, and I also documented that. I photographed all the “welcome back” signs and the people enjoying their time back together.
I saw the ups and the downs of a huge life event that everyone on this planet shared and something that will be talked about forever. It really helped me socially speak to my followers and advise them to follow the guidelines so that we could get back to a normal life. Despite the ignorance of the world, I saw that we really can make a difference if we come together. I see that there is good still out there and I strive to be a positive inspiration to any one that I meet.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Ever since I bought my first camera, there has always been a nagging voice in my head to pick a different career. When I went to college my dad was the first person to make me question whether or not photography was a career that I could flourish in. He was coming to visit me once and he was bringing some winter clothes and my camera for my digital photography class. On the journey, he dropped my camera and the lens broke. That was the first easy fix.
When I moved home and was focusing on school and work, I wasn’t using my camera as much, so I lent it to a friend. A couple months go by and I find out that my camera was dropped again and the lens shattered. I decided to sell the body of the camera and put that camera to rest, seeing as it was bad luck.
Since I was constantly on the go during this time, I found it easier to use my iPhone for taking photos, editing, and posting. I continued this until I went back to school and finally got a new digital camera.
In college I was working 30 hours a week, commuting an hour to Chicago daily for school, focusing on my regular homework AND focusing on my photography and it was insanely stressful. On top of that, I remember my photography professor telling that I didn’t have an eye for photography. He said that my work didn’t have substance and that basically all my photos were average. But I kept going. I finaIly impressed him with my final project.
From 2019 until now I have grown my business. I have photographed weddings, large scale group events, portraits, and even food. Since 2022 I have photographed at multiple music venues in Chicago, shot at 2 huge festivals, and continue to grow my following every day. I even participated in a campaign with DoorDash where they made a commercial showcasing how I use my DoorDash income to support my photography dreams. (video linked on my Instagram)
In 2023, I got one of my first big concert gigs. I was so excited to finally get the opportunity to capture live music. After the show, my car was broken into and all of my camera gear was stolen. It was never retrieved and it put a stop to the freelance company for abut 6 months. I lost all the photos from my first gig and it was devastating. I rolled over the idea of not starting back up countless times because it felt like every time I was getting somewhere with my business, I took 5 steps back.
In my time as a photographer, giving up has been the easiest choice, but today I am still here chasing my dream.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What do you believe is true but cannot prove?
I believe things happen for a reason. I believe in a deep, powerful connection between all of us on earth. It is a hard thing to prove because how can we know for certain? How can these things be controlled? I don’t think there is one thing controlling us or pushing us in our direction, we control our direction, but our minds are also a powerful mechanism. For me, coincidences are sometimes just that but other times I think there is a deep reason why that coincidence happened. I think all the events leading up to our decision are what backs our decision, but those events give us an insight on what we choose. I believe that when something turns out the way we were not expecting, we can only grow and learn from it.
When something goes horribly wrong from me, instead of sulking or obsessing over it, I try to turn it into a learning experience. Sure, the first day I will sit and think about the event all day and night. I will take my time to observe the event of what happened and be emotional about it. But you can’t let that emotion get the best of you. You can’t control every thing going on in your life, but you can control what you do after the event. You can let it effect you negatively or you can turn it into a positive learning experience. I feel that having the mindset that something happened because it was supposed to lets me be free of the event. I can tell myself, “that was supposed to happen, now what are we going to do about it?” I don’t give myself the chance to let the negative experience stay negative because that is only going to hurt me in the end.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
Yes. Every thing that you do, every single day should be your best day. You should always wake up and put your game face on because you never know who you will encounter and it could change your entire life. I like to keep myself positive even when facing hard times. Working in retail has given me the chance to put my effort into being a happier and more positive person. Some days I really do NOT want to go into work and deal with customers, but once I clock in, I change my perspective and let go of all the stress and emotion until my shift is over. This gives me a break and I focus on the task at hand. Then after work I can dive back into my emotions. I want to radiate a light that is contagious to every one that I meet. I think giving your best self at work or at home or even to the people walking by on the street generates positivity inside yourself and also the people around you. I want to be a role model. I think always giving your best gives you internal satisfaction and when it isn’t noticed by others, you cannot let that get you down. Sure it hurts to go unnoticed but only you can be hurt by it and you can’t let that get in the way of being your best self and living your best life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/avphotos
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/av_photos123
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-vidmar-chiphotographer/
- Twitter: https://x.com/avphotos123
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AVphotos123/
Image Credits
Kendro & Jon Jen, Diego from DB Stereo, Gabe, Anissa, Alan & Maddy, Ashton, Christian & Hayley Adorjan.
All photographed by Austin Vidmar (AV Photos)
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
