Roman Cho, 45, Editorial and Commercial Photographer specializing in portraiture.
Los Angeles, CA
Roman, sheltering in place in his wood shop in Los Angeles, CA
Aside from your creative work do you have any additional source of income?
Nope.
Who do you live with and how do you feel about that?
I live by myself. My typical schedule was that unless I was out on a shoot, I stayed at home to work on the computer, retouching photos, editing videos, emailing, etc. Other than not being able to have the occasional dinner with friends, go to my climbing gym nor grocery shopping at 11pm, not much has changed in my daily routine. I guess my life was uniquely suited for the pandemic.
How are you spending your time?
When the Coronavirus scare first started happening, I was busy editing a video project. Now that’s done, I’ve been working on various projects around the house I’d been putting off; you know, cleaning it (what can I say. I’m a messy bachelor), doing taxes, woodworking. I don’t have Netflix so I don’t watch TV shows or movies. I’m running out of podcast episodes to listen to while I’m woodworking. I also cycle for exercise and the pandemic has provided an unintended benefit to this activity with cleaner air and less crowded streets to ride on.
At first, I was spending lots of time on the web just trying to get a sense of what was going on. Now I’m making an effort to spend less time on the web and more time in the real world within my place. I’m also reaching out to various friends, texting them to let them know I’m thinking of them.
I also read Walter Isaakson’s bio of Benjamin Franklin. He was a rather dirty old man, that Ben!
How is the pandemic impacting you
I’m lucky that I only have one person I know personally who’s had to deal with COVID 19. And she’s on the mend.
Professionally, all the shoots I had lined up just disappeared and the couple of projects I’ve been working on have been put on hold. So at the moment, I have all the time in the world.
Personally, judging by the amount of time I was spending on the web reading about what’s going on, the pandemic has affected me more than I care to admit. At the same time, I’m trying to be measured in my reaction to the events, focusing on the facts and data rather than giving in to the hysteria. That’s easy for me to say since until very recently, I didn’t leave my place, so I knew I wasn’t vulnerable to catching the virus. That helped in my being calm. Now that the food has run out and I’ve had to go to the grocery store, I’m aware the risk has increased statistically but again, not freaking out about it. I haven’t run out and bought four jars of peanut butter and a year supply of toilet paper, for example.
I think my lowest moment was the time I pretty much spent the whole day watching all the different versions of “Tom Sawyer” by Rush. I’m not proud of that one.
An unfortunate issue that’s been on my mind are the instances of racism due to the origin of the virus. My cousin’s wife and her kid were verbally abused and told to go back to China (we’re Koreans) so this isn’t an abstract issue for me but a rather concrete concern.
What do you want to accomplish personally and/or professionally during this time?
As a self-employed photographer, the constant pressure of marketing yourself and hustling for the next job is something I have to deal with. With the pandemic causing the chaos and all of us without work and heading into recession, I know the appropriate thing to do is to spend time on my business and update the website, create new promos, email everybody, etc. But for some reason, knowing that this is something that’s happening to EVERYBODY is giving me some measure of comfort.
I’ve decided to not give in to the anxiety, detach from work and devote the month of April to woodworking. I’ll hop back on to the work stuff come May. Since I can’t shoot since what I do is portraits, I’ll likely spend the time on the administrative side of things (joy!).
(BTW, all of last year, I felt a recession was going to happen in 2020 and tried my best to prepare for it. Of course I had no idea THIS was how we’d get to that point.)
Personally, during this time I’d like to learn Spanish. but I’m too lazy for that so that probably won’t happen. My place is too cluttered so if I can get rid of 50% of my belongings, it’ll be a major feat. If I can get rid of ten things, I will have accomplished much. Otherwise, no real goals. Just enjoy the quiet and the clean air.
What kind of world do you want to see on the other side of this?
I’d like to see a kind of world that I always want to see: a fair, equitable world. A society focused more on conservation than rampant consumerism. People who can say “thanks,” and “sorry, I screwed up” when appropriate. But that ain’t happening. The Spanish Flu killed millions of people and we still had two world wars.
How can people find you and support you and your work?
romancho.com If you want to buy prints, let me know. If you have photo needs for your business, I’m here.