We recently connected with Alex AETPhotos and have shared our conversation below.

Alex, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I’ve been taking photos every single day since I was 18 months old and I became certified by University of Texas at Arlington in photography and photoshop when I was 15. At 16 I got into videography, website design and social media management and learned by just looking things up and working on it all every single day. More recently I’ve also gotten into merch design/graphic design, tour management, publicity, and more and I learn more about all of it every day just by getting experience wherever I can and doing research about it in my free time.

I kind of wish I would’ve taken the time earlier on to learn about the business side of the music industry instead of focusing 100% on the visual creative side of it; but at the same time I was doing photo and video work just about every single day and having a lot of fun working with all the bands I had the opportunity to learn and grow with for those first few years; so I am glad that I had the time to enjoy just the creative side of it for as long as I did. I’m only 20 years old now and I’m incredibly lucky to know what I want to do and to have the opportunities to learn more every day and to have artists that trust me to help establish their name and grow with them.

I think passion is the most important thing of all to be able to work any job in the music industry. Even if I don’t have a lot of experience in something to back me up, once bands see the passion I have to do something, they trust me to do it. I definitely would not have gotten the first video gig that I did without passion, because I had never shot any video or had any experience with editing videos before a day in my life, but those bands saw how passionate and eager I was to learn and took a chance on me, and thankfully it worked out for the best for all of us. No matter what work I’m doing I put 100% of myself into it even on my worst days.

There’s been a ton of different obstacles throughout my career and I know theres a ton more ahead too, that’s just part of it, thats life. Starting out in the industry at 15 and even still now as a young female I have to work extra hard to prove myself, my skill and my worth. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve been told I can’t do a gig or especially a tour because the men in the band, or their wives/girlfriends, or the tour crew, or whoever is just not comfortable having a female on tour or working at the show. I’ve spent the last 2 years touring with an incredible Texas based band, Prophets and Outlaws, and I guarantee you at least once at every single show that we have played someone has come up to me– not even just to me alone– but to me while I’m around my bandmates and the person will say “oh wow thats a cool job. Who are you sleeping with in the band to do that?”. They’ll ask it SO confidently as though it is such a normal question to ask. Thankfully the PAO guys are really good people and always help to immediately shut that down, but when I’ve gotten that same comment at other shows with other bands its cost me those jobs then and there. I don’t know why or how people feel that thats an okay thing to ask but it has set me back countless times and cost me tens of thousands of dollars worth of work. You just have to find the right people to work with who will treat you as an equal. Its sad to say thats still hard to come by but when you find good people you have a much better experience working with them anyways, so no matter what it works out for the best.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My business is AETPhotos; I provide photography, videography, social media management, website design, merch design, publicity, tour management, and more for bands all over the US all on my own. I also recently started my own music publication (Tour Life Mag) for photographers and writers wanting to get their foot in the door in the music industry while also teaching safe industry etiquette to all who join.

I started off as a photographer at only barely over 1 year old when my great-grandparents handed me a disposable film camera. I ran– or stumbled I suppose– around their house taking photos of everything I saw. After that I spent literally every day of my childhood outside taking photos of wildlife, sunsets, and of my pets; and once I was about 15 I went to college at University of Texas at Arlington where I became certified in multiple photography and photoshop classes. Around that same time I had attended my first concert where I saw MISSIO at House of Blues in Dallas, and I tried to take my camera in not knowing you had to have certain credentials to photograph a concert. This was my birthday present for my 16th birthday and I was so excited. I got there HOURS early and waited out in the rain and was the very first person in line, by the time doors opened and I went through security they told me I had to take my camera back to my car, and by the time I had done that and got back to the venue everyone was inside and standing in front of me in the room (and I still am but especially then I was very short, so I really struggled to see the concert around all the adults standing in front of me). I still managed to have the best time of my life at that show though. The minute MISSIO got off that stage, before the headlining band could even go on, I left to go back home and research how to get a photo pass at a concert so that next time MISSIO came to Dallas I could photograph their show; seeing them live just made me realize I wanted to be in the music industry the rest of my life. I started my company AETPhotos that year and immediately started photographing hundreds of local bands; and eventually those bands would ask if I would be willing to try to create music videos or concert recaps for them which introduced me to videography, video editing, directing, and much more. After a few years of only doing creative work with photography and videography I decided I really wanted to learn even more about the music industry and help out artists in more ways, which lead me to social media management, website design, merchandise design, tour management, publicity, and a whole lot more. I’m still extremely eager and passionate to learn more, both about what I already do and in things that I want to do but don’t have much experience in like running sound at shows, booking shows for bands, running lights at shows creating cool light shows and more.

I really put 100% of myself into all the work I do and I genuinely care about the artists I work with and I want them to have the opportunity to focus on their art while I do all I can to handle everything else that goes into being a band.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Hahaha *sigh* yeah so back to that whole MISSIO story. So just to recap, the first time I saw them was for my 16th birthday, I waited outside in the rain for hours to be the first person in to get a good spot, I tried to bring my camera in not knowing I needed to have a special pass for that, doors opened and I was told by security that I had to take my camera back to my car and by the time I did that and got back I was at the back of the line and had to stand at the back of the venue during that show and that show became the reason I got into concert photography/the music industry.

I feel like I should go ahead and say now that the lead singer Matthew has become a very amazing friend and someone I majorly look up to both professionally and personally. He’s seriously done a lot for me both personally and as an artist and I will always be grateful for him. I’m also beyond shocked that he hasn’t blocked my number yet and still takes the time to listen to my ideas because I probably message him monthly with a new portrait idea or concert or festival that I want to shoot or with an idea for something I want to work on with them or something or another and honestly any other artist would’ve blocked me by now haha.

Ever since that first show at House of Blues 5 years ago any time that they have announced a tour or a festival or event or anything I immediately message Matthew and ask to be the photographer for it. And every time he has had to tell me that it won’t work out for a full tour, but he sets me up for all TX and OK shows which always end up being a dream come true. And whenever a festival doesn’t work out I immediately either apply and get approved to cover the entire festival as press, or I just buy a ticket and rent a new point and shoot camera that I’ve never used before to try to test my skills. I can’t say I’ve ever once been upset about a tour or festival not working out with them because it just gives me an opportunity to grow even more as an artist before getting my dream gig. No matter how much experience or knowledge you have as an artist there is ALWAYS room to grow. I’m excited for the day that being their tour photographer/videographer does happen. I can’t say that I had enough knowledge or experience in the past to know that I could be happy with my work if I did an entire tour with them then, but now I’m beyond happy with the work I’m putting out into the world regularly and I still work hard to learn new things, so I think when the time does come it’ll be really good for everyone involved. I’m very glad that these guys know I won’t give up on this dream and that each time I’m told no it just helps push me to work even harder and learn even more. I would not be the artist I am today if I got my dream gig right off the bat but I sure as hell am going to keep pushing to make that dream become a reality.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Originally it was just to be MISSIO’s tour photographer/videographer, and even though that is still a very big goal for me in my career I’ve learned along the way how much I love helping others and how badly I want to do that for the rest of my life in so many different ways. I do this currently in a few very different ways:

First is through my business AETPhotos. What started as a photography and videography business has now also turned into social media management, PR, tour management, web design, merch design, marketing, booking, and much more for bands. Every single band I work with I work incredibly hard to very affordably help them with all aspects of being a band outside of making music. A lot of people don’t realize just how many different things go into being in a band and how insanely expensive it gets, and you CAN do it yourself but you’ll seriously be up working on all of it 24/7 with no breaks if you take it all on yourself and I really hate seeing creatives lose all their time to be creative because they have to spend all their time focusing on the business side to it. Even if you hire me only for remote social media management or only website design or something I’m ALWAYS happy to share any and all of my knowledge and my connections. I want to see the artist I work with thriving and doing what they love and I want to help out wherever I can. Nothing makes me happier than watching people live their dreams and helping them achieve them is such an insanely good feeling.

Second is through my publication, Tour Life Mag. I started this online magazine specifically to help other photographers and journalists get their foot in the door in the music industry and I also work extremely hard to make sure everyone that joins learns proper concert photopit ettiequte to keep not only themselves but also the bands and fans safe. Everyone on the team is always able to reach out to me with any questions they have about the industry or for help with finding certain bands publicists or whatever they may need. I’m incredibly grateful for all the shows I’ve had the chance to work as a journalist and I want to help others get those same chances. Also almost everyone on my team is a woman or nonbinary which is insanely awesome to me because this industry is so difficult for anyone who isn’t a man and I love helping get more women and nonbinary creatives in the music industry.

And third is through an annual benefit concert I host called the You Are Essential Concert. I started this on my 18th birthday and spent every penny I had to rent out a venue, get staff, and get bands to play and EVERY single penny from ticket sales went to The Trevor Project, a nonprofit suicide hotline for LGBT+ youth. I did it again for my 19th birthday right before the COVID lockdowns started and I’ve had to pause these since then, but I’m hopeful to bring it back again soon, and I’m very hopeful to use the next one to raise money for one of DFW’s amazing womens shelters. Just trying to figure out the safest way to do this but it may have to wait a little longer.

Also because its something I’ve worked on that im most proud of, and to give my friends a little shoutout, I had the honor of helping Prophets and Outlaws raise over $10,000 for the North Texas Food bank last year right after the horrible Texas Snowvid-19 happened with their new song “Little Bit of Love” featuring Pat Green. The song is all about how a little bit of love goes a long way and how something as simple as smiling at someone can really change someones day. I was extremely honored to create the music video alongside the north Texas food bank, to do the marketing and social media promotions for the song along with website designs and PR to help get the fundraiser out into the world. It was a very big project and something that was put together kind of last minute and everyone did such a great job on it and their fans are insanely awesome for raising over $10k in only a week. Every single penny went to the food bank and was able to feed tons of homeless and hungry people across north Texas. I would really love to be part of more projects like this with bands because it really was just such an incredible experience even through weeks of no sleep to work on promotional materials.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.AETPhotos.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/AETPhotos/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AETPhotos/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AETPhotos
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7TKF5ujXgPa8jrBzlpSwqA
• Other: Link to Prophets and Outlaws website that I designed where you can still donate to the North Texas Food Bank: https://prophetsandoutlaws.com

Image Credits
AETPhotos