David Valdez
Founder, The Texas Photography Festival
Georgetown, TX
Episode: David Valdez: The Photo He Chose Not to Take
About David
David Valdez learned photography in the U.S. Air Force, photographing generals during Vietnam, and turned it into a career that put him fifteen feet from the Oval Office. He served as personal photographer to Vice President George H.W. Bush starting in 1983, then as Chief Official White House Photographer from 1989 to 1993, one of only thirteen people in American history to hold that title. He shot roughly 65,000 rolls of film across 75 countries, an archive now housed at the George Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M University. After the White House, he led photography for Walt Disney Attractions through the shift from film to digital, then helped write the original Nikon Digital School of Photography curriculum at Blue Pixel. Today he is founder of the Texas Photography Festival, hosted at the Williamson Museum in Georgetown, which has grown from roughly 400 attendees to 1,400. He serves on the Williamson Museum board and chairs the Georgetown Texas Arts and Culture Board, and he still washes dishes every Monday at Crest View Baptist Church for 600 Southwestern University students.
In Their Own Words
Their Best Advice
“No matter how simple it is, or how important it is, it’s of value to capture that moment.”
Connect with David
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