Alek Szmytko: Boxes Are Meant To Be Broken

“Being visible means being honest and loud enough that people have no other choice, but to see, to hear, and to listen” – London photographer Alek Szmytko’s pictures are defined but not limited by his background in the fashion and creative industry. As an art director, Alek has a reputation as someone who works with high-profile luxury brands, yet as a photographer, his approach toward his subject could not be more down-to-earth. “I wish to document the times I am living in with honesty and bring light to the most interesting characters I found on my way.”

There is something that shines through the pictures of Alek. The way he plays with light gives his images their beautiful glow, just as if we were watching life as it happens in some otherworldly living color. “Love to me is the feeling of hope in life that we share with someone. Love can take any shape depending on the person but for me, it is admiration, dedication, sacrifice, honesty, and generosity.”

Photographing people, many of whom have fought a day-by-day fight just to be able to live out their identities, Alek knows the hardships of standing by the persons we truly are and not letting society change us. And the one advice he got for anyone struggling with expressing their identity? “Never forget to have fun with your life. Boxes were created to be broken. Identity is infinitely mutable.”

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