For the past six months, nationally recognized Photographer David Valdez has been crisscrossing Williamson County, documenting this moment in time before Samsung Austin Semiconductor and other global tech companies utterly transform the landscape. Valdez, the former chief photographer for the United States Chamber of Commerce and a photographer for former President George H.W. Bush, is doing this for a photography exhibit entitled “Still Making History” that will be featured in March of 2023 at the Williamson Museum in Georgetown to celebrate the 175 Anniversary of Williamson County.
At the Oct. 27 meeting, Valdez stopped by to photograph the Taylor City Council as part of his documentary efforts, which also included The Williamson County Fair and Rodeo, as well as The Main Street Car Show, last weekend.
“I have been traveling around the county for the past five or six months photographing the county as it looks today,” Valdez told city leaders before snapping their group photo. “If you have all seen the old photos from the 1920s, like in Georgetown and in Taylor, you have the model T’s going around and sometimes there are horses and carriages. We are now a hundred years later and so our exhibit is going to show how we look today.”
“Not every photo I take is going to be in the exhibit because I have taken thousands of photos around the county, but they will be archived at the Williamson Museum forever,” Valdez added. “And I am really excited about that.” After the meeting, District 4 Councilman Robert Garcia said he was glad Valdez got a chance to stop by. “I have known David Valdez at least eight to ten years now, and he is just an all-around great guy,” Garcia said. “The project is going to encompass all of Williamson County and its heritage,” Garcia said. “Where we are at currently, and how every decision and everything we are doing now is going to affect the future and what the future looks like.”
Garcia said Valdez was doing important work for people to have a better insight into this historic moment. “It gives us an opportunity to show Taylor to all of those visiting Williamson County and what Taylor is all about, especially now that Taylor is on a worldwide stage, and it is almost becoming a household name, to a lot of developers and industry,” Garcia said. “I am hoping that what he is doing is give us a glimpse of the future and a little snapshot of where we are at.”
