Daily Inspiration: Meet Alex Burke

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Burke.

Hi Alex, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
Growing up in Estes Park, nestled in the mountains of Colorado, I was always surrounded by nature and immersed in it from a young age. However, as a teenager, my appreciation for it was never realized. It wasn’t until I moved away to the bustling city of Phoenix at age 18 that I began to appreciate the solitude of the outdoors. Anytime there was an opportunity, I’d sneak out of the city and spend a quiet sunset in the desert. These experiences sparked my interest in photography, the goal being to bring back a piece of nature for myself and eventually others.

Over the following two decades, photography became the main driving force in my life. It pushed me into backpacking which has become a wonderful way to get deep into the wilderness to create new images.

Upon returning to Colorado, I moved to Greeley where the prairie is just as close as the mountains. The endless horizon and open sky of the Great Plains started to captivate me just as much as mountain wilderness regions so both of these two subjects have equal portions of my attention these days. The two very different landscapes now work harmoniously in my mind, so I share compositional themes no matter where I’m photographing.

At some point, I realized that such a powerful passion should become my career. I gradually grew out of my normal day job and pursued photography as a business about a decade ago and couldn’t be happier with the path it’s led me down.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s been about as smooth as I could have hoped for, mostly due to minimizing risk every step of the way.

The transition between careers was a long and slow one, taking a few years as I eased out of full-time work and into self-employment. Every step was calculated, risks weighed, and decisions made accordingly.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
One thing that I’m most known for is that I’ve continued to work exclusively with film in this digital era. And not just a normal film camera, but a large format 4×5 view camera. This is the type where you put your head under a dark cloth to view the image, which is displayed upside down on a dim glass screen. The result is a huge film negative which gives me endless detail for large prints. It’s a slow and methodical process, but one that I enjoy very much.

I would like to think that my images stand out in style, mostly due to their visual simplicity. Photographing on the prairie has offered a minimal landscape, often with just one very clear subject standing out in a scene against a flat horizon. I’ve worked as hard as possible to create images just as clean as the mountain landscapes, which is a challenge given the natural chaos of mountains and forests.

Additionally, I’m known for my educational resources to help others get into film photography. There is a wealth of free information on my blog as well as some very affordable ebooks that dive deep into all topics related to the film.

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
It’s very important to diversify your income streams. The majority of my income came from outdoor art shows, which were entirely canceled that year.

Thankfully, about 5 years earlier I had seen the one income source as a potential threat to my business longevity, so I started working on educational material and also began a high-end film scanning business for other film photographers.

Those two things really pulled me through the pandemic and also reduced my reliance on the exhausting and uncertain performance of art shows in general.

Pricing:

• Educational Film Ebooks – From $9.99 to $29.99
• Fine art prints, starting at $85
• Print in handmade (by me) walnut frames, starting at $500

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.alexburkephoto.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexburkephoto/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexburkephoto
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/AlexBurke