Love: A beautifully diverse rollercoaster that provides us with elation and agony, plus everything else in between. Documenting what it means and feels like to be in love is a wonderful thing to do. Some people like to process their experience through words, others like to capture the journey through photographs. Houston-based photographer Alexej likes to combine the two, resulting in a powerful zine titled, Soulmates to Strangers.

I’m fascinated with how people combine artistic mediums, thus creating a more intense experience for their audience. Alexej used poetry alongside imagery to tell her love story, a time she describes as “the hardest year of my life.”

Prior to the interview, other than her photography skills, I knew little about this young, thoughtful creative. Once we began speaking, I quickly realized she possesses an invaluable talent. Through the written word and the images she makes, she’s able to communicate so eloquently the feelings many of us endure when under the influence of love. Her work serves as a visual for those emotions we often struggle to process and understand.

Her zine highlights the chaos, the suffocation, and the isolation that comes once the flames begin to burn, and circumstances mean they cannot unite. I’m confident all of you will see your personal story within the journey Alexej is about to take you on.

Them Frames: Hey Alexej! Can you briefly tell us how you got into poetry and photography and which art form was first introduced to you?

Alexej: I first started writing when I was very young. I remember sitting in front of my computer and writing a story about a dog who fell in love with the dog on the other side of the fence, and the stories I told became longer and more detailed as I aged. In high school, I participated in National Novel Writing Month a couple of times, it’s a program where you write a 50,000-word novel in thirty days. I wrote during class, on the toilet, in the library, and during conversation. I had to get a couple of thousand words written a day, or I would be behind.

I started writing poetry seriously when I fell for someone. They were someone I didn’t want to confess my feelings to. I would write about them and everything I wished I could say, just to get it out of my system. Photography became intriguing to me around the same time in my life, and I began using my phone to capture photos of things like flowers and my friends. Eventually, it became another outlet for my emotions, especially self-portraits. If I had nothing else, I had art.

Them Frames: Traditionally, people begin as strangers and become soulmates. The title of your zine, Soulmates to Strangers introduces the opposite of the norm, can you tell us more about that and why that became the title?

Alexej: The zine is about a person who I became best friends with, and inevitably ended up falling for. We knew everything about each other, and we became each other’s rock. There were circumstances in the friendship that prevented us from being together, and one day we decided to go no contact–simple friendship was too painful. Having someone who you are so interwoven with suddenly disappear from your life is jarring. I lived my life in a painful blur for months. That’s when I began writing this zine.

Them Frames: In terms of putting the zine together, please tell us about the creative process. For example, did you write poems to specific photographs (or vice versa) or was everything pre-made and then combined?

Alexej: Everything in the zine was created while thinking of one person. So although I didn’t combine the writing and photography or have them paired up beforehand, they meshed together because they all told the same story, the story of loving someone and losing them.

Them Frames: Many of the images have this lovely warm, orange glow to them. What was the intention of this style?

Alexej: People always ask me this question, inquiring why my photos feature the color orange. The truth is I don’t know. It’s just what I have always been drawn to, and I have implemented in my work unknowingly. I didn’t even notice this pattern until it was pointed out to me. Some of my friends call me “the queen of orange.”

Them Frames: Can you tell us where the inspiration to make the photos for the zine came from and where did you make a majority of the shots?

Alexej: I constantly create art. I see good framing and I capture it. Most of the images were taken on road trips I took with my best friend. We often drive to other towns just to explore Texas, and being in a new place is always inspiring to me.

Them Frames: In terms of putting the book in order, how did you develop the structure and what were some challenges in terms of bringing it all together?

Alexej: I went through all of my writing, from the beginning of when I wrote about this person to the end. I chose the ones that impacted me the most, and I think the hardest part of the process was reliving it all, from falling in love to watching the relationship end. However, doing this helped me process the whole event and by the time the zine was actually released I had healed.

The very last sentence I wrote about them happened soon after the zine was released. So if anyone wants closure to the story, here it is.

“Suddenly, there was no you. it happened slowly, there once was a time I thought of you every second of every day.

But then it was every other second. Every other day. You were no longer the main character of my internal battles. you remained a side character for a while, and then you were gone. A whisper in the deafening discourse of my mind.

There is no one instance I can recall as our goodbye.

How can you say goodbye to someone who was entangled in every aspect of your life for two years? “closure”, as they call it, was impossible.

So, I watched you disappear.”

Them Frames: Now that it’s complete and out for public consumption; how do you feel about the way the zine turned out?

Alexej: I am proud of it. I have had quite a few people tell me they bought it and it helped them get through breakups and other things, and that makes me feel as if I did some good. I am writing another one at the moment, and I will not spoil the name but this one is not as heartbreaking. It’s about finding the person you want to spend forever with.

Them Frames: For many people, photography helps them manage the differing experiences of life. How–if at all–does photography help you process this wonderful adventure we call life?

Alexej: Being able to turn something as intangible as emotions into a piece of art helps me process things. Creating my zine manifested my emotions into a physical object that I could hold. If I am being honest, I am not sure if I ever would have processed this event without art and creating this zine.

Them Frames: You are very interactive online. Which artists/photographers are currently floating your boat?

Alexej: At this moment my favorite creators are a few I met through art Twitter.

• @BEACASSO is a portrait and fashion photographer, and I have looked up to her for years. She is the epitome of everything I wish to become regarding portrait photography and the kindest soul.

• @nvrheardofyou is a film artist who specializes in portraits. The way she captures women is absolutely phenomenal and I dream of having my portrait taken by her someday.

• @virdisardem is a painter who features green and blue in her work and is the queen of texture. I have been working on more traditional media lately and she is an inspiration.

Them Frames: Finally, if people should listen to one musician (or band) while viewing your zine, which would it be?

Alexej: There is no specific band or artist I would name, but I do have some songs. Two Ghosts by Harry Styles, champagne problems by Taylor Swift, WYD Now? by Sadie Jean, I love you by Billie Eilish, hell or flying by Jeremy Zucker, Happiest Year by Jaymes Young, and tmrw by Jake Cornell.

You can enjoy more work by Alexej by visiting her website, Instagram and Twitter.

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