We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Austin Vidmar a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Austin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

One project that comes to mind is my COVID-19 & Me project. The pandemic had an impact on every single person and it affected all of us in different ways. While being away from work I had more free time to focus on my photography. I chose to start up a survey and link it to my social media. I asked questions like “are you working during the pandemic?” and “what new hobbies have you picked up?.” I wanted to see what was changing in others lives. I wanted to see what stayed the same. I wanted to find out what they missed most while having to stay inside. I realized that I had so many changes going on in my life and with social media I could see so many other people going through similar things. I just wanted to capture all the different stories and see how others adapted. After getting a good amount of surveys back, I then reached out to the participants. I went to take photos of them, trying to relate to their survey and what was going on in their life. I always ended with a photo of them with a mask on. Another part of the project was all the signage and changes in the environment around us. As a part time delivery driver, I was working during the pandemic. Everyday a new sign or poster would be put up expressing social distancing. So while on my day to day work route, I started to photograph what I saw. This project is very meaningful to me because although we were all dealing with the same thing, it touched all lives differently, but in the end, working together and social distancing made us all stronger. We had to work together to achieve a sense of normalcy again.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Austin Vidmar. I am a Chicago based photographer. I started my business in 2015 while in school at Loyola University Chicago. I received my BA in Studio Art: Photography in December of 2019. Right after college I moved from a small suburb, about an hour away from the city, to Rogers Park, a quiet neighborhood on the north side of Chicago. From a young age I always had a camera in my hands, snapping photos of myself, friends, and my daily life. In high school I joined yearbook where I fell more in love with photography and decided I wanted to pursue being a full time photographer. One part of photography that I enjoy is sharing my view of the world with others. I am a huge fan of traveling and exploring and getting to share my outlook on life with my followers brings me so much joy. Photography helps me take my time in viewing the things around me. I want to freeze time to then come back to those moments that sparked emotion inside me. I love the sharing these photographs, hoping that it will spark something in my viewers. I dabble in all photo genres, striving to perfect every single one. I like to take on the challenge of a new project or idea that my clients have given me. My favorite genres would be architecture, music, portrait, & street photography. When I have my own free time, I really enjoy getting out and just shooting with my camera. But my main goal is to work in the music industry, whether it be touring with an artist, working for a festival/venue, and being able to capture the atmosphere of concerts. I think with my clients I like to be as personal as possible. I want to work with them and make sure that the image they are imaging is the image that I can create for them. If they can think it, I want it to come to life. I am most proud of my journey. Life can be so unexpected at any given time and I think that overcoming so many obstacles has not only made me a stronger photographer, but a stronger person. I like to challenge myself with my own personal projects. Previously when someone brought me an idea that I wasn’t comfortable with, I would shy away from it. Now I say “bring it on.” My personal photography projects are memories that I always want to hold on to, and with my clients I want to give them that same feeling and energy, something they will remember for a lifetime.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a photographer is when I turn in my photos to a client and their face lights up with joy and excitement. Sometimes the hardest part of being a creative is being your own biggest critic. I take the photos and sometimes I get a little nervous that they did not turn out the way I wanted or in post process I notice a small issue that eats away at me. It can be very discouraging. Spending hours and hours in post process and then not being 100% happy with my work can really be so hard mentally. Then I get a couple perfect photos that I truly love and I show them to a client and they feel the same way is just absolutely rewarding. I feel so accomplished to see my clients post and share the photos they love. It brings so much joy to see others validating my hard work because in reality, photography is not just pushing a button. There are certain settings involved, an attention to detail, and an enormous amount of skill to edit, just to get one perfect photo. Sometimes others don’t realize how much work it takes for just one photo, but that excitement that my clients show is truly worth it.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Photography has always meant so much to me. At the end of my sophomore year in college I had to take a step back because the program I was enrolled in was not meeting my expectations. I moved home to focus on getting my associate degree. At the time my camera had been damaged to the point of no return and I was devastated. After getting my associates I strictly focused on working to save and get back on my feet. There were multiple financial challenges that pushed me farther and farther away from getting a new professional grade camera. Even during school there were multiple obstacles that I went through. One day I decided that even though I didn’t have the means to afford a camera, I could still take photos, which then launched my idea for “iphoneography.” Working two jobs and being on the go constantly, I realized that I could still use my iPhone to take photos. I did a couple photoshoots with my iPhone and while traveling I used my iPhone as well. I got so much positive response which sparked the idea in me to return to Loyola and finish my degree. I finally got a professional camera again and just ran with every idea I had. I kept practicing and practicing and while in college I narrowed down the things that I love to take photos of. There have been so many difficulties on my journey that have absolutely made me want to give up and quit, but I take those difficulties and turn them into experiences that I can learn from. I will constantly continue to work on growing my photography business and I will continue to grow as a photographer no matter what gets in my way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://avphotos.squarespace.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/av_photos123/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AVphotos123
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/austin-vidmar-chiphotographer
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CnUbTUHpsYW/?igshid=MWI4MTIyMDE%3D

Image Credits
All photos taken by me