Meet Valerie Walker | Photographer, Media Digitizer and Preservation Specialist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Valerie Walker and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Valerie, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
It was March 2020, I was working as a commercial photographer at the time and the whole world was quarantined. Some friends and I decided to quarantine together and just started dreaming about a business we could create to fill holes in the Memphis market. I have previous experience in the digitization and preservation business, and learned a lot of it from my Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Photography, so we decided to cook up a business that helps others digitize and preserve their precious family memories. At the time there was no other business solely or completely providing the services I provide, so we knew that it would help serve our community.

Even though we knew it would serve our community, it was still a huge risk to start a business amidst a worldwide pandemic. We started it anyway and I am so glad we did because of what it has become. It helped me find connections to other artists, helped me start a film photo club (Memphis Film Revival), sparked so many creative discussions and my creative ability, pushed me in my own photography and art, and gave me an amazing opportunity to work on precious Memphis Photographic and Video History like negatives taken by the Hooks Brothers with some of Memphis’ well known gallerists such as Jay Etkin. So even thought the risk was great, it was well worth it for what this business has meant to me and for what it has become.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Something I love about what I do is that it not only serves the people of Memphis by preserving their histories and memories, but it is so fun to do. It also provides me the time and space to create more of my own art. Without having to rely on selling artwork in a saturated market I can sell my services, and focus on creating art not to make a living on but to enjoy and to share with my creative community.

I’m very excited about offering in house printing, I would love to help other artists print their work or reproduce it to sell to a wider market. Something fun about PhotoBerry is that a lot of the services I offer I get to use myself for my photography.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
As a huge Memphis fan, this is a hard question to answer.

Breakfast: Sunrise Memphis, Pancake Shop, Bryant’s Breakfast, and City Silo

Lunch: Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken, Elwood’s Shack, and Aldo’s Pizza Pies

Dinner: Rendezvous BBQ, Bog & Barley, Babalu Topas & Tacos, and Arcade Diner

Dessert: Gibson’s Donuts

We would take a Memphis tour, spending time downtown at the new Tom Lee Park and exploring the stores on front street, Civil Rights Museum, the M bridge, and Mud Island Park. Next we’d hit up midtown Cooper-Young area, the zoo and surrounding parks. Then we’d hit up East Memphis for some really great food and shopping.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are many Memphis Creatives that have inspired and supported me in my endeavors as a business and as an artist. It would be impossible to name them all but to be brief, all of my friends in Memphis Film Revival Club (Erica Qualy, Aaron Brame, Jimmy Ball), Jay Etkin Gallery, friends at Creative Drive, and of course the many customers who have come to my door, trusted me with their memories, and have spread my name across Memphis.

Website: https://www.thephotoberry.com, https://www.valeriewalkerphoto.com

Instagram: @photoberry901 @valeriewalkr

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeriewalkerphoto

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PhotoBerry901

Image Credits
all images included taken by me. Images in the exhibition owned by Flow Museum of Art & Culture with permission to show the pictures of the exhibition.