Who is Alex?

Dang, Me? I’m a visual artist and a creative in the purest form. I am constantly creating whether that’s photography, videography, or designing. I like doing it all. I’ve done it all and I’m inspired by all things in the creative realm. It took me a while to get here, but this is exactly who I am. I had always known I was creative, but I didn’t know what it meant until I started to mess around and play with different mediums. I’m a doer. You can always plan for something but it's also good to live in the moment, try new things, build off it, and keep it rolling.

Why photography? Did you have a specific “ah-ha” moment where you knew this was it or did someone or something influence you?

This is a weird answer because it took me a while to say I was a “photographer”. I went to school for visual communications because in high school I wanted to be a video producer. I worked in production after school and it went hand in hand, but it was also very different. I kept thinking “this is fun!”. I started to learn about film cameras and how they worked and the quality that they gave. At first, I tried to keep video and film separate but it started to mend together. I noticed that I had an eye for it, something more than video. It was then that I realized this is what I’m passionate about. These projects I do are Passion Projects.

I think I really started using film around 2012 or 2014 but my first actual jump into photography was when I met the folks from Retrospekt . I won’t forget when I got my first 35mm camera, I had to watch YouTube videos on how to even load it properly. I had no idea. I wanted to do something different then the sterile feeling of shooting digital. With digital, everyone had a T4i, you could get the image right out of the box. Film was different. I made mistakes, a ton of mistakes, but then the mistakes turned out to be my favorite shots, some of the best things I’ve made were from accidents or those accidents that I was able to build off.

I’m passionate about photography. I can now start to make connections and money from it. “Money wasn’t always my end goal, but you gotta keep the lights on in the studio somehow. You’ve gotta know your own worth!” I still really love it and I’m still passionate about it. I’ve kept it as a passion. I get to be creative in my own shoots, but now I can also work with people. We can collaborate and we can create something that’s even more over the top! It was a weird, slow journey, and I defiantly didn’t start thinking I was going to be a photographer in any form and just started leaning into it.

At what age did you know that this was going to be your career path?

It wasn’t until college that I realized I could make a career out of what I was passionate about. I had gone to community college up north, but it wasn’t until I saw the visual communications program down here (Madison, WI) that I thought, “Hmm, creative art program, video production, I’ll try that!”. I started out wanting to do skate videos, and snowboarding videos, even though I didn’t snowboard anymore, but I knew I wanted to do some sort of video and film production. I thought it was going to be really cool. I didn’t know anything when I started, I didn’t even know how to copy and paste on a MacBook, starting from scratch. The classes in this program gave me a creative environment to be able to learn the basics, learn adobe products, learn from other creative people (peers and teachers). Everyone was trying to build each other up, always willing to try new things, and it helped me to polish my skills into something I didn’t know that I had within myself. I said, “LET’S GO!” and it all sort of exploded from there!

Did you have any big accomplishments in college?

Yes! In 2014 I was given the Art Student of the Year Award. This really helped my confidence and sort of locked it in that this is where I was supposed to be, what I was supposed to do. It felt good! I like to think I was given the award because I would always take my projects to the next level. We would get these guidelines or shown an example of what we could do, and my goal was always to come up with something that was cool, crazy, creative, make it my own, something authentically me. All of my peers were super supportive of me.

Share with me a project that you’ve done that you’re the proudest of.

I recently shot a music video with Godly the Ruler. It was some of the most cinematic work I’ve ever done. I was able to tap into some skills I learned that I haven’t used in a long time. This project was a mix of photo work, film, and videography. It can be hard for me to do both at the same time since they are two different mindsets, but I was given the ability to do video work and then go back and take some photos. We really worked together throughout the project, but I was also allowed to go as creative as I wanted to.

Did you do any research?

I like to get ideas for projects from things I see. I saw this music video of Jean Dawson sitting in the back of a truck with and dirt bike and the lighting they used was on point. I knew I want to mimic that lighting for this project. “I get inspiration everywhere, when it clicks, I just know I need to use that for a certain shot. It’s fun when things come together like that.”.

How did you come up with that idea? Anything spark interest?

A lot of the ideas for that project came from Godly the Ruler, himself. I was able to take his ideas and come up with a plan that incorporated the creative cinematic feel as well as making sure we stayed on budget. I love being able to mesh with other creative minds, we get to build off of each other and have this great collaboration.

Do you have any routine that you do to help get your creative “juices” flowing?

CAFFEINE! Caffeine gets me in the zone. Sometimes I still get that nervous feeling before a shoot, but I kind of feel like if you’re not feeling a little bit nervous then you’re not right, you’re not on the edge and ready for this. I sometimes think, “What am I going to do for this s**t?” and then I’ll try and find some inspiration and ideas online. During a shoot I want the person I’m working with to be at the same level I’m at, 100%. If you’re not where I am, how are we going to create the best thing we can. Sometimes I offer them some caffeine, sometimes a beer, sometimes both. Whatever can help get our creative juices flowing that day. I don’t want anyone feeling stuffy.

What photographers work do you admire most? Does their style have any influence on your work?

I just read a book, Texas Is the Reason: The Mavericks of Lone Star Punk by Pat Blashill. It has photos from the punk shows from inside the pit to backstage with the artists. He was doing what I want to do now back in the 80s, hanging out with these awesome bands before the show, and then go and hang out with them in their homes afterwards and document it all through photos. One shot that sticks out to me, it’s a lead singer, just standing by his car with his hose running. Nothing crazy, but just sparked my interest. Right now, the punk scene in the 80s is a vibe for me.

I can’t say that I have one person who inspires me, it’s more current inspiration, and I’m finding it all over the place. I don’t try to simulate any styles in particular, more a mix of what I see but my own spin. “The 2014 hipster in me says, ‘I don’t wanna copy people. Curly mustache me says, ‘I gotta be different.’.”

Any additional interest or hobbies that you like doing?

I’m an outdoors man, I love camping and flyfishing. I love music. Music is a connection. I enjoy going to different shows. There are a lot of different versions of me, different sides, but they all come together, they are me. I’m comfortable with every part of it. The best part is they all blend into the work I do.

What are you doing to grow yourself as a photographer?

I’m always shooting, even when I’m not. But I do believe in taking breaks when you need it. I’ve taken summers off and gone fishing, told my wife, “If you need me, I’ll be on the boat”. With photography my view is if it comes to mind, try it, don’t be afraid to try new things. Sometimes it may flop, but it usually doesn’t, or I find a way to make it work. Grow your concepts, I do want to learn more about the cameras, I feel as if I know enough technical, but now I want to get creative and see what angles I can get, new shots that I can pull.

Is there anything you’re working on now that you want people to be on the lookout for?

I don’t have anything that I’m in the process with right now. I’ve been working on some music and trying to put together something live. There are some zines (magazines) in the back of my mind that I keep thinking I want to put together. I have some photos that are candid, some great belly laughing photos that I have of people from different shoots, wanting to put those into zine sometime in the future.

When can we expect it?

With summer coming I want to enjoy it, relax. I may start to work on it in the fall.

What do you hope to accomplish in the next coming years?

I think it’s good to think ahead but I’m happy with where I am and what I’ve accomplished so far. I do want to build my studio in the next few years. I think it would be cool to be a self-sustained photographer, do some freelance. It’s something I think about. I do have a day job, the safe route. When the time is right, I’ll be working for myself. That’s a goal, not sure when exactly but it’s there.