Alex T Thomas | Tokyo
Ambient Women’s Photography Collective showcases the work of female photographers from around the world.
Alex T Thomas is a freelance photographer and videographer based in Tokyo. Her work spans both sides of the camera: She documents moods, spaces and light, as well as shooting her distinct self-portraiture.
Read our interview with Alex below.
What subjects or themes do you most enjoy photographing?
The magic in the mundane. Light shapes, liminal spaces, lonely plants. Color, texture, a glimmer. A moment that can be transferred into a haunting yet nostalgic feeling for something that has never been experienced. Anonymity, texture, pink sunsets. Emotional objects, contextual moods, glitches in the matrix. As well as immortalizing how I perceive myself (self portraits of me being hot, but like, creative editorial magazine hot).
Cinema, existentialism and just documenting nouns in time is what inspires me to take a snap.
I recently watched a HBO series called “How To with John Wilson”. He films weird objects and people he finds around New York, which leads him on bizarre adventures. I resonated with this series because I am also curious and attracted to the subtle strangeness of existence and finding those moments out in the wild that make me stop and wonder “what happened here and why?” This existence is bonkers enough as-is, you don’t need to stage it.
What inspired you to pursue photography?
From a really young age I was always around cameras and photographs, my mom documenting things and looking through her photo albums together. She said she regretted not taking more photos of herself when she was younger and it really drilled something into me to start capturing everything around me at all times. When eBay became a thing, I got really into collecting analog cameras because back then (2004) digital cameras were like 3.2 megapixels and film was still cheap.
Flickr also popped up as a social media for photographers, which was a huge source of inspiration that I recently realized had a big subconscious impact on what catches my eye. I was the only one in my friend group taking pictures and organizing photoshoots, so everyone had me to thank for their Myspace profile pictures.
Beyond just documenting, I started to notice when my photos looked more interesting and drew the eye a certain way. I started to collect, study and emulate other photographs I liked, and my own style emerged as second nature. Then it became something I could use as a way to express how I felt about what I saw (which is what all humans need to do in one way or another). Photography clicked as a way I could interact with both my inner world and outer world and bridge the feelings in that ethereal realm into a tangible medium.
What do you do when you encounter creative blocks?
When it comes to creative blocks I think it’s an indicator your inspiration well has run dry. I don’t usually have a problem with this, my problem is having too many ideas and not enough time or money to do them all.
If you’re feeling blocked, take the time to soak in the world, try new things, go places, watch movies, etc etc. If you’re really blocked, read the Artist’s Way!
How do you experiment with new ideas or techniques in your work?
When I want to try a new idea it’s usually spurred on by seeing someone else’s work and then wondering if I could do that in my own style with what I have at home. I love working within a series or theme so I can actually wrangle everything into something cohesive instead of being overwhelmed by all the options I could try.
Thanks to the Artist’s Way book, I’ve learned I can approach making art with less perfectionism and more child-like curiosity and playing around. When I can’t get a new idea working right, I keep at it until something lights me up and I can work in a new direction. Playing with new tools is sometimes uncomfortable (self portraiture with strobe lights? So difficult). But if I can focus on the vision I am trying to create, it helps me get excited to learn a new skill set.
Do you prefer digital or film photography, and why?
It depends what I am shooting; I have to use different tools. Analog film adds a whole other layer to the themes I love to photograph out in the world, which adds to both the experience of shooting, what I decide to shoot and the final outcome. I look at film as an extension of the moment and my mind, and treat it as a hazy memory I can hold. I don’t do any editing to film, I trust it as-is.
For self portraits however, I need to see what’s happening to adjust the setting and myself and then proceed to take 900 photos on blast.
I feel like any discussion on digital vs film is like saying paint vs markers, they’re different tools in an art medium that are both useful. Do we have any marker art hanging in the Louvre? I don’t know. But I’ve seen some amazing things made with markers. Art is subjective, who cares, do what you can with what you have. Just as long as you are creating!
How do you stay motivated and inspired in your photography journey?
Getting jealous and riled up when I see photos that are so good I wish I shot it! I don’t personally have any problems with staying motivated and inspired when it comes to photography, my well overfloweth. Stress, capitalism, lack of money, hot weather and bad hair days occasionally put me on pause on my photography journey, but I have literally 14,000 screenshots of inspiration I can look at any time to remember there’s lots of beauty in the world to inspire me.
How do you think the industry can support and encourage more female photographers?
This is a bigger and deep rooted question that relates to all industries and societies everywhere. “The industry” is just a structure that was built on culture, power, patriarchy, colonialism, whatever. People in power are not going to give up power, they’re only gonna help out fellow pals and human nature will not change any time soon.
Thanks to so many internet platforms, it’s easy to access art anywhere so it’s just a matter of people’s personal awareness and interest. If you want more niche, interesting art from communities of different genders and POC, you have to actively search for it and build your own voice. The thing to do is create your own world and be so good you cannot be ignored. It looks cooler in the history books when you fight the system and make art anyway.
What legacy do you hope to leave as a photographer?
To inspire others to be curious, to notice how magical the world can be even when it’s a dumpster fire. A dumpster on fire would be a pretty good photo though. Truth is always stranger than fiction, it’s always there in the small moments.
Also just a bunch of legendary iconic photos of myself for my funeral.
Do your best with what you have, have fun, make art.
