Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Walter.
Hi Alex, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Showing up on the planet two weeks late, I was born 7 pounds 9 ounces delivered at Covenant hospital in Lubbock, Texas. That would be the only time I was ever late (Just kidding but I do really hate being late). My family moved to Austin, Texas, in 2003. Being a child of a split household, I spent most of the year in Austin, but my holidays and summers in the Dallas area, Arlington, Richardson, Plano, Dallas suburbs. Going between households during my childhood developed a sense of self-reliance and an ability to entertain myself anywhere from a very early age, and with my severe childhood asthma, that was important as I spent so much time inside.
I graduated from James Bowie High School in 2012 and then pursued a degree in Criminal Justice at Texas State University, San Marcos. Through college, I worked in the service industry, everything from burger joints to fine dining to the finest cocktail bars in the city. I remain a service industry advocate today and hope to return in the future.
March of 2020, I was the bar director at the Pershing, a local members-only social club. The team and I were deep into planning SXSW events. Hours of meetings, setting up BEO’s, ordering insane amounts of liquor, beer and wine. Ten years of service industry experience put into practice, and then ya know, COVID happened and brought everything to a screeching halt. With my medical history, I had a hard time justifying the risk to myself with continuing the career I had built for myself. After a month of mourning my lost job, I began to pour all of my time into photography. Youtube tutorials, masterclasses, posing guides, consulting my parents, who both have a history with graphic design and photography. After absorbing as much information as I could, I roped my then partner Lori, a local actress and incredibly patient model, into doing a few shoots with me. The first steps were clunky as any. But I kept going. Spending the last year and some change with photography taught me to be bad at something; it forced me to handle criticism in a positive manner, something I had never before done.
100+ applications later and a few weeks spent lying on my resume I landed a product photography job with ShopLC that started in November 2020. It was a part-time seasonal gig but it put a camera in my hand and I got paid for it. I was shooting 50-100 pieces of jewelry a day, day in day out. Five months later, the seasonal offer was up and I began to look elsewhere. I am currently set to spend five months beginning in May with the Yellowstone Rafting Company in Gardiner, Montana. My experience was unique; my family afforded me the ability to take the shutdown as a period to grow and develop a new skill. I am incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by people that support and believe in me.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I spent a decade in the service industry, working my ass off neglecting my own personal interests for my career. I have been interested in visual mediums my whole life, I grew up sketching, was amazed my the photographers I saw around me. It just took a global pandemic for me to afford myself the time to do something that I wanted to do rather than had to. I wouldn’t say that I have had a tough life until now; however, most would not want to trade places with me. The Devil, you know, right? I’m the oldest son of a split household. I have carried an immense weight my whole life. I grew up being in two places at once. Drug abuse, alcoholism, domestic abuse were all on display. I mean, hell at this point, I even have my own struggles with addiction. Our youngest have extremely rare mitochondrial disorders, my mother is experiencing what we believe to be small cell myopathy, and my father is an alcoholic who believes he doesn’t have a problem. I have always said that I was the 3rd parent, and if you ask extended family, I’m sure they would agree.
My family owns and operates an addiction recovery clinic, Simple Promise Farms, because of my older cousin’s decade-long struggle with heroin. Growing up, he was like my older brother. As a young adult, I watched him go through withdrawals, something I would not wish anyone to see or experience. I think all of this has actually made my job as a photographer easier. I want to pull emotion, a story out of people. I spent so much time feeling uncomfortable and unsure about myself, I understand how to make the people who stand for me feel at ease.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize, as a result of my previous job, in product photography. I love detail shots. This mostly applies to the product photography world, but I bring that vision to all of my work. Showing you all the pieces of something so that you can almost feel the photo. I do it with people, cars, even food. In your face, images that hide nothing by distance. I tend to frame things very similar to Wes Anderson, but I bring a dark color palette to the table. The work that I’m known for most recently has been portraits, the amount of emotion I pull out of people is what everyone that sees the work will comment on.
Honestly, the thing I’m most proud of is just how far I’ve been able to push myself in such a short time. I know that my situation was unique in having the ability to do nothing but dedicate myself to it 24/7, I tried to use the lockdown well. I’ve always been a 100% type person; whatever I’m doing, I am dedicated to it 100%.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Humility. You can learn something from everyone. Be a learner; the best person doing what they are doing knows that someone can and will catch up to them.
Contact Info:
- Email: alex.jwalter@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.alexwalter.work/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexwalterphoto/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100027704405371
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZkGdh73sH0w5gOihgAfvrQ
