@alexkittoephotos

Can you introduce yourself and say how you got into photography?

My name is Alex Kittoe and I got into photography in 2018 when I was studying abroad in Alicante, Spain. I bought a Sony A6000 just to document friends and life. The goal was to just come back with some photos for memory, but I fell in love with photography rather quickly. Grabbing a camera became a great excuse to leave the house and just aimlessly wander around Alicante and the surrounding areas. When I got back to the states, I started shooting concerts, restaurants, and any work I could get. The passion turned into obsession and I just never stopped.

You’ve talked about wandering and photographing whatever catches your eye, what is it about a moment that cuts through everything else and makes you stop?

Honestly when I am out shooting my brain just kind of goes on auto pilot. I don’t think too much about my photographs and compositions at the moment, I just snap photos of whatever interests me. I shoot a lot of pretty landscapes but over the past few years, I’ve been way more fascinated in documenting passing moments. These literal moments in time that might never happen in the exact same way. Usually involving people or some sort of moving subject. 

You’ve said too much planning can lead to disappointment. What kind of expectations tend to get in the way of making a strong image?

Yeah I rarely plan any photos or even look up locations before I arrive. I think, for me, trying to plan out photographs stifles my creativity because it makes me fixated on specific things. For example, I was just in Milan and I didn’t plan a single thing. My best images all came from aimlessly wandering around during blue hour and just shooting people / moments that pulled me in. If you go somewhere with the idea of getting “the shot” and it doesn’t turn out because of weather or other elements, you’ll be a bit disappointed. But if you never had that idea in the first place, you can just freely shoot what’s in front of you. 

When you started shooting film, it pulled you out of a creative rut. What did that slower process give you that digital couldn’t?

Getting into film photography was easily the best decision I ever made. When I was shooting digital and still learning photography, I was really relying on the camera to do a lot of work. Shooting in Automatic, using autofocus, and taking 100 different variations of the same spot which was super tedious when it came time to cull / edit. Shooting film on a manual camera slowed me down and forced me to actually learn photography. It made me focus on light and color a lot more and made me much more intentional with my compositions knowing I had limited shots.

You move between commercial and personal work, how do you hold onto perspective when there are outside expectations involved?

Sometimes commercial work just feels like work rather than something I’m super passionate about but I always make sure I have adequate time to shoot personal projects as well wherever I am. I never find it difficult because I am super driven to continue building my archive of personal projects. That said, I am super lucky that I mostly shoot for clients that really align with my style and vision. Oftentimes I will come back from a client shoot and I am excited to share the photos or even end up selling prints of them. Having complete creative freedom on a client shoot is incredible and I really try to seek out those partnerships to avoid burnout. 

Your work has a very distinct use of color and atmosphere, how did that visual language develop over time?

From the very start of me picking up a camera, there was a specific look and style that I had in mind. I wasn’t really sure how to get there at first so I just spent hundreds of hours in the lightroom trying different things, attempting to replicate the styles of other photographers I liked, and experimenting with different color palettes. Over time, I just got it dialed in and I’m way better at bringing my vision to life these days. I don’t ever use presets, I edit each photo individually which is a very long and tedious process, but it gives me the results that I want. 

What’s something in your current work that you feel you’re still trying to figure out?

I wouldn’t say I am necessarily trying to figure it out, but I have been way more focused on street photography and subject based work lately. It’s been a super fun journey kind of shifting focus from pretty landscapes to these literal moments in time. I’m still trying to figure out a balance between film and digital and where each system fits into my workflow without getting gear fatigue but I find myself mostly gravitating towards digital for either quick client work or telephoto shots these days. 

What do you think ties your work together, even as your subjects and locations change?

I think most people would say it’s color. My use of color stays pretty consistent across a wide variety of landscapes and subject matter which I think makes my portfolio feel pretty uniform. I’m not sure if this comes across to other people, but my goal is to live an interesting life and document it in an authentic way. So I hope the point of view of a wanderer / acute observer around the world is a common theme that people can see in my work. 

 Has making photographs changed the way you remember your experiences over time?

Absolutely. Specifically shooting film and not getting my photos back for a couple of weeks after I have been somewhere. That aspect allows me to relive these memories very specifically and it’s maybe my favorite thing about film photography. Also, I am definitely guilty of romanticizing certain places or scenes because of photography. Sometimes when I am traveling things are going wrong and I’m exhausted / burnt out but I make a great photo. Then I always look at that shot and think super highly of that situation regardless of how I was feeling in the moment. 

When people spend time with your work, what do you hope lingers with them afterward?

It really depends on the body of work.

With my landscape and countryside work, I hope people feel the same sense of calm that I feel when I’m out there. Those quiet, open spaces have a way of slowing everything down, and there’s a bit of nostalgia in that.

With my city and documentary work, I don’t necessarily want people to feel calm. I want them to feel curious. Like they’re stepping into a moment they weren’t part of and trying to make sense of it.

If anything lingers, I hope it’s that feeling of being present inside a moment.