AUSTIN, Texas -- SXSW was scheduled to start this week, until it was canceled over concerns about the coronavirus. Now, instead of a busy two weeks of work, some freelancers are struggling to make up for their lost gigs.
- Photographer estimates she's lost $7,000 in wake of SXSW cancellation
- Comes as she's planning her own wedding
“I’ve always been passionate about photography, since I was like 10 or 11 or whenever I got my first camera," said Olivia Vale, a freelance photographer.
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They say a picture’s worth a thousand words.
“Just to like, hold that image and be able to like get absorbed in that moment, I think photography is really heartwarming and connects you with like the best parts of being alive and being a human," said Vale.
For Vale, this passion lets her tell entire stories.
“I feel like I’m giving people moments and I’m giving people little bursts of happiness when they see those photos," she said.
But when SXSW was canceled, she abruptly found herself out of stories to tell.
“I do a lot of event photography as well, which is what I was scheduled to do all during South-by," said Vale.
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No stories means no work, and no work means no money.
“In all I’ve lost about probably 70 hours of work, and almost all of my March income. I estimated I’ve lost about $7,000," said Vale.
She admits some instability comes with the territory of being a freelancer.
“As a freelancer you are used to like not having a regular paycheck," said Vale. "That’s how you live your life like knowing there’s that risk, which is really scary for it to be made real.”
A photo taken by Olivia Vale appears in this image from March 2020. (Niki Griswold/Spectrum News)
And the timing couldn’t be worse, as Olivia prepares to start a new story of her own.
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“It is scary the month before your wedding to lose all of that income and be like, ‘Oh well, at least I have a bit of savings, but then what if?'" she said.
Despite the uncertainty, Vale still plans to walk down the aisle, and say I do.
“I’m so excited to marry him, and like, you know, we could get married in a shack and we’d be happy," she said.