Why He’s Interesting: Gabe Wasylko always figured he’d make an impact in Cleveland. He just never thought it would be as a photographer of sports and cityscapes. When the pandemic shut the world down at the start of 2020, Wasylko dove fully into photography, giving himself a goal of posting a picture to Twitter every day. In the time since, he’s parlayed breathtaking images of Cleveland’s skyline into tens of thousands of social media followers and a job as Destination Cleveland’s social media manager.
He Didn’t Plan This: After graduating from the College of Wooster in 2019 with degrees in mathematics and political science, Wasylko had his eye set on law school and a career working in professional sports. But thanks to the pandemic, he ended up shifting his focus to photography (a part-time hobby at the time). “It’s kind of weird to think back on where I was three years ago. It shows that following your heart will get you opportunities you didn’t know existed.”
Locked In: Wasylko’s biggest celebrity moment came this summer when, after taking some photographs in the Flats, he drove a bachelor party to another bar after the group missed its Uber. When Wasylko introduced himself, almost everyone in the party immediately recognized him and said they had one of his photos as their phone lock screen. “I love that photography can help bring people together.”
First Pitch: In April, Wasylko captured an image of the jet flyover at the Guardians’ opening day, a photo that has quickly become one of his favorites. That said, he had to work for it. After getting through the security checkpoint in center field at 6:57 p.m., Wasylko sprinted to the top of the grandstand behind home plate right at 7 p.m. to capture the flyover over the field in the nick of time. “When I got my seat, my friends had a Summer Shandy waiting for me. It tasted amazing.”
70,000: The number of miles he’s put on his car since he started photographing fulltime. “It’s my second office. A lot of times I have to use it to stay warm when I take photos in the winter.”
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