Out of Service

An ongoing photographic series of 4x5 inch (10x12.5cm) negative portraits of service industry workers based out of Austin, Texas.

On March 17, the city of Austin closed all bars, venues, and dine-in restaurants in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Service industry workers and live performers alike have been stuck in limbo ever since—myself included, and it seemed as if there truly was no end in sight.

These industry workers are the lifeblood of small business in central Texas.

At the time, many Texans were unsure if the places they’ve worked would ever reopen. Several staples of Austin simply could not recover from the economic distress this virus caused—Threadgill's, The North Door, and Shady Grove are just a few of the long-standing local favorites to close permanently.

Now, as we enter 2021 with an ever-growing number of deaths due to the coronavirus, a new era of uncertainty around the service industry arises.

This series examines several service industry employees, as well as how certain local businesses are adjusting to the ever changing obstacles presented by the virus.

The decision to create this work with large format negatives was made in order to achieve a particular transition of tones and richness in quality. These images are presented in an order which I deemed most appropriately fit.

AG: What current hours are you working, if any?

DG: I’ve been furloughed as of last Monday (3/16). My boss wasn’t taking it seriously until the city forced us all to shutdown. I was literally driving into work when they told me we were closing.

AG: What have you been doing for financial stability since your job shut down?

DG: I’ve applied for grants, aid, stipends, unemployment. I don’t qualify because the owner of Skylark never sent in my W4. They setup a Venmo for us (the staff), we’ve each gotten $75 so far. I’ve pretty much crawled into a hole since then and started playing Stardew Valley on my Switch.

Update from 2/8/21

AG: What was the beginning of quarantine like for you?

DG: I went back home to Lumberton for the first three months and stayed with my mom so I didn't have to worry about any finances. After that I came back to Austin and lived off unemployment for about six months. In that time I probably played every single video game possible, watched a bunch of movies and a million different shows. For a while my sleep schedule was super fucked.

AG: Are you working anywhere now?

DG: I got a job in October working at Little Woodrow's off Burnet. In the morning's I work at Violet Crown clubhouse.

AG: What else is new?

DG: I got in an accident in October, someone rear ended me and took off. My car's really messed up, I'm getting it towed tomorrow. I've been having to pay everything out of pocket. I lost a lot of people from Skylark (The Skylark Lounge), and I still haven't really seen anyone since covid.

Update from 2/6/21

AG: What have you been up to since we last spoke? And how’s your new business (Wolf Cycle) going?

HR: We've been working our asses off. We were never able to get any EIDL, PPP, or small business assistance due to not having any income for 2019 on record since the shop had just opened. We also weren’t able to get parts for the first three months due to industry shut downs. That really set us back financially, making it nearly impossible to survive these slow winter months. As of right now we’re still operating at cost, just kind of holding out for the world and industry to normalize a little more with the vaccine. We’re basically on day to day survival and holding out hope for the future until further notice.

AG: Are you working anywhere else in the meantime?

HR: I started a small jewelry line that I sell on the beach in Mustang Island where my mom’s retired.

AG: Has Skylark (The Skylark Lounge) reached out to any of you?

HR: The owner of Skylark held a fundraiser specifically for his employees via Instagram, but only gave each person $75 and kept the rest for himself. He then back filed their tips as contract labor and write offs as 1099. It was complete chaos and no one has heard from him since. Skylark is still closed for now, but may be reopening in the near future.

Update from 2/8/21

AG: What have you all been up to since we last spoke?

JA: We (Batch) had opened a food truck, but then the people running it decided to take a different opportunity. We're going to reopen it soon but as something else. We've mainly been releasing beer! Five new ones a month. Last weekend was super busy though which is good!