We had the good fortune of connecting with Alexa Kravitz and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Alexa, how do you think about risk?
For most of my life, I’ve leaned towards being risk-averse. I’ve always had a goal of having a steady career that provided predictable personal and professional growth. But recently, I’ve started to heavily lean the other way.
I left Dallas, Texas, to go to Emory, with the aim of majoring in business. I learned relatively quickly that that wasn’t the best path for me, and I ended up studying psychology and history instead. After graduating, all I knew was that I wanted to stay in Atlanta, so I ended up getting a job in client services at a creative agency. That set me on a 12-year trajectory of client services roles which I was successful in but ultimately did not find fulfilling.
I realized there were two things lacking in how I really wanted to spend my time: music and art. First, being close to music. Concerts and festivals have always been my happy place, but I didn’t know how to get closer while maintaining the stability I also wanted. Second, being in a more free and creative space.
Ultimately, I knew I needed to make a change. After many hard conversations with myself and those closest to me, I took the biggest risk of my life to leave my comfortable corporate career to pursue photography.
Going from risk-averse to risk tolerant has been such a positive shift in my life. To me, seeking fulfillment and happiness in my daily life has been worth the doubt of if this path will all work out.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I take a classic approach to my photography, aiming to share the spirit of what I see the moment I click. Whether that be at a concert, a portrait session, observing the making of music, or at an event, I want people to feel like they were there. I’m inspired by film photography of the 1960s and 1970s and am excited to keep honing my craft and working with musicians on and off the stage.
I have always had an interest in photography, beginning back in middle school when I started shooting on and developing black and white film at J’s Art Studio in Dallas, and later becoming the primary photographer and photo editor of my high school yearbook. While I didn’t seriously dive into photography out of school, my iPhone is filled with concert images I took out of pure love for the experience and wanting to have something to look back on. I’m now so happy to see how my journey translates in a professional setting with professional gear and getting to develop relationships with local artists.
My path to focusing on professional photography has not been conventional. I’m very much still learning as I go in terms of making this a business, building my brand, and finding balance.
Ultimately, I’m a music fan who wants to share my passion for live music and admiration of musicians with others.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My perfect week in Atlanta would include:
- A stroll down through Reynoldstown and Cabbagetown to see all the street art
- a night in EAV including a show at The Earl and stops at Argosy and Gaja
- concerts at The Tabernacle and The Eastern
- brunch at Ria’s Bluebird Cafe
- a dinner at Grindhouse with some ping pong
- an evening walking around downtown Decatur with dinner at No. 246
- trivia at Elsewhere Brewing in Grant Park
- coffee at Park Grounds and Chrome Yellow
- a neighborhood festival, ideally Oakhurst Porchfest or Inman Park Fest
- a couple of nights in a cabin in North Georgia along with a hike
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to thank my partner and my parents for supporting my decision to leave a solid path to pursue one without any guarantees, as well as my friends who have also been there to boost me up. In the photography world, I’d like to thank Sara Keith, Alex Acosta, and Alison Jarek from Atlanta School of Photography for being great teachers and helping give me the confidence to pursue this path.
A big source of inspiration for me has been Rick Rubin through both his book “The Creative Act: A Way of Being” and his podcast Tetragrammaton. He introduces one of the chapters of his book with “Look for what you notice but no one else sees”, which has become a driving force for my photography.
Website: https://alexakravitzphoto.com
Instagram: @alexakravitz
Image Credits
All photos taken by me