Alex Fredrickson is an international member of Lenses of Croydon. She will join us on Tuesday to share her passion and experience as a photographer at the next edition of the Croydon Photography Forum.
Alex was born in the UK to German-speaking parents. She initially trained as a psychiatric nurse during the 1980s and later wrote a book about her experiences. Alex later moved to the mountains of Austria, where she taught English and continued writing, mainly about people who find themselves, for whatever reason, pushed to the fringes of society.
Alex describes people as constantly being her first love, so it was no surprise when, after a rather unpleasant brush with burnout syndrome in 2016, which left her unable to write a single word, she picked up a camera instead and aimed it at people.
The privacy laws in Europe require creativity, so when Alex is not shooting client-based work, She tends to focus on various ways of telling her human stories in ways that ensure her anonymity. This ranges from using intentional camera movement (ICM) to using silhouettes and specific things about a person to tell their stories. Hands and feet are her favourites here, as she finds them so wonderfully expressive. For Alex, human storytelling is not something she learned to do but rather something she believes she was born to do. Whether in words or pictures, or a combination of both, it is here that her heart lies.
As a creative, Alex has so many layers of experience, which have guided her to become a photographer with a reflective practice allowing her to observe, acknowledge and capture the beauty and uniqueness of everyday objects and people within her surroundings. While making a picture, she often asks herself, what can I hear, smell and feel?
Alex believes as a philosophy that no one sees the world entirely as she does, and she recently shared during a podcast, My perspective is unique, as is yours. When behind the camera, I aim to show you the world, not as the camera sees it, but rather through my eyes. The moment, in photography, is everything. Add a little imagination, leaving you with something a little different.
Alex has a few books available online as a published author and photographer.
Those who choose to donate £3 or above will be entered into a prize draw to win an original print by Alex or a second prize from our event sponsor of a Pure Power Clarity Lens Cleaner bottle with a RCS Products Pro Microfiber Cloth to help you keep your camera lenses, glasses or monitor screens smear free.
