29 QUESTIONS FOR ALEXANDRA KACHA
Open to see the prolific photographer's dreamy creative space ☁️
Alexandra Kacha is highly sought after photographer and cinematographer based in Los Angeles.
ALEX’S CREATIVE STRATEGIES
Go to an AA meeting before beginning your creative practice for the day
Burnout is the real enemy of creativity, not lack of inspiration
Turn your pain into purpose
Like what you like, especially if what you like are miniverse sets
PROCESS (8)
What are your creative rituals?
Meditation, playing with fabrics, brainstorming shoots, tending to my garden, floral arranging, cooking for hours listening to ambient playlists, food decoration, changing up my altar.
Physical space or mental space?
Definitely physical space. With a dash of mental.
How do you actually get started?
I used to force myself to get started earlier and learned I am not a morning person. I pushed my shoots and business to start later in the day and it has been a huge shift for me.
My Pomeranian, Jimmy actually gets me started. We go on a walk, meditate, water my garden, move slow & steady, hit an AA meeting and then work begins.
What are your three favorite creativity tools? Please give us specifics, we want to add to cart.
Definitely Abode Lightroom, I make and sell presets for photos on there. I can spend hours doing it.
DaVinci Resolve. I edit my video work in there. It is a extremely fun program.
Weird trash I find, like nylon, plastics, glass to put over my camera lens. You should try it on your iPhone camera. It makes me very inspired.
What’s on your desk right now? Send us a pic.
I’m working in my bed. I am surrounded my by altar, some plants. My favorite place is to edit from bed ;)
What do you do when you’re feeling deeply, existentially, sand-bags-tied-around-your-ankles stuck?
I find myself at this place very often. I do about four shoots a week mixed with travel, boudoir, commercial shoots, weddings — it is such a intimate job that takes a lot of energy.
I can work myself to death and when I get to a desperate place of burnout I need to restructure my schedule and take time for me. A lot of baths, blocking my calendar off (this is very difficult for me to do but recently I’ve been doing it a month ahead when I know I’m having a big week or travel week), escaping to Joshua Tree, or a stay-at-home vacation.
I find myself at this place very often.
Do you have a system? Are you Wes Anderson-style organized or are you the live action embodiment of the Tasmanian Devil?
lol. I start work at the same time every day when I am in LA so I can have a structured system.
I start my day meditating & doing a lot of things for me. I am a huge homebody so my system and rituals take place in home. I head to an AA meeting before work which helps me get out of my head and be able to be of service to others.
When it comes to editing I do have a system that works well for me. Certain days are editing days.
Tell us about your process. When? How? Are you strict about it?
I dedicate my life to what I do. It is such a gift that I get to have a creative practice every day with shooting and the type of clients that are drawn to me. It is so inspiring and I feel full of purpose to the point that I want to be strict about it. I get to change people’s lives with photoshoots, and watch them become a whole new being. That transformation pushes me. I am really open to evolving and staying up on trends within my work.
Whether that is learning new programs, social media, editing, how to make someone feel more held & supported during a shoot. My job is a constant evolution in creativity & growth. My process is to keep unfolding. Getting better. Growing in my career, emotionally, and financially.
My job is a constant evolution in creativity & growth.
My process is to keep unfolding.
MINDSET (6)
What grinds your gears creatively? What gives you the ick?
Creating dreamy & magical photos, the endless possibilities with video & video editing, making presets on my Patreon and shop and seeing people use them & grow within their work, helping & seeing others succeed, shooting queer love, anything latex, anything shiny & rhinestone-y.
The ick — I hate seeing people who don’t feel beautiful who are so beautiful.
It kills me to hear people talk about their bodies in a negative light. I get to bring that beauty out, but getting to the core of what people think about themselves makes me want to cry.
Name one thing you’ve created that makes you beam with pride.
I have been playing with religion and my catholic shame within my photography. Those shoots probably bring me the most joy. I want to make a book, eventually.
Tell us about your creative nemesis.
BURN OUT.
Any notes for your haters? What about your lovers?
It is a gift that people choose me to document such intimacy in their lives. I would love to say thank you to everyone who has supported me.
Andy Warhol used to change his perfume every three months because we wanted to have scent memories associated with that time period in his life. What scent will you associate with this time in your life?
Some cowboy sage.
What’s your current hyper fixation?
This is embarrassing but mini verse toys lol. And baking muffins.
INSPIRATION (7)
Favorite meme (present-tense or ancient)?
This one
Where do you seek inspiration most?
From my dreams and daydreams.
Who did you look up to as a burgeoning creative person?
Nan Goldin
What’s a reliable, perfect portal place for you? (a place/experience that you know will transport you to a new way of interacting with the world)
The desert or the ocean. Somewhere vast where you can rest.
What’s a piece of advice someone else gave you that lives in your head rent-free?
To turn your pain into purpose.
What was a canon event for you that you wouldn’t go back and interfere with even if you could?
Realizing I was under-selling myself and my gift. It brought in a lot of difficult clients. I was getting sober at the time and I was charging so cheaply. Burning out constantly. Breaking even. I raised my rates and worth and a whole new world began for me.
PERSONAL STYLE (8)
Night owl, morning bird, or a secret third thing?
Secret third thing. My burst of energy comes around 1p or 2p. After a lot of slowness. Night time is definitely my time to be domestic, cook, wind down.
If you had to get a tattoo in the next 30 minutes … whatcha getting and where?
Oh god I have so many shitty tattoos. probably a devil or some chains.
What’s currently gracing your beverage rotation?
I have been making butterfly pea sun tea with genmaicha and foaming some almond milk and maple syrup. It is very good…
Give us an example of a design, movie, book, experience from growing up that has shaped the way you work and create now?
Kenneth Anger, David Lynch, David Cronenberg, 80s porn. Anything hazy & dreamy.
![Kenneth Anger – [FILMGRAB]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o8Ao!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08ca20f3-c906-40db-9cc0-aca15a82c578_720x537.jpeg "Kenneth Anger – [FILMGRAB]")
What’s your relationship with the moon?
The moon is my higher power. I work with the moon often. I love her.
On the Freak to Fairy Scale, where do you fall?
The biggest freak.
You have to change your name to an emoji, a la the artist formerly known as Prince — what do you choose?
😋
Congrats! You are a guest lecturer at Spacies University. You are teaching a bunch of wide-eyed freshman about your technique and process. What would you call it?
How to start a freaky photography business.
Liked this? Want more visual eye candy and divergent strategies for creativity? Refer a friend to SPACIES and get our Creative Inspiration Compendium, a portal to uncloud your process and light your inner fire.
Alexandra is prolific! Love to learn about their process 💫