Written by: Olivia Austria-Kemble
From his silver chain to his shiny metallic grill, eccentric and unique instantly came to mind when meeting Alex Kiander.
Kiander is a visual artist with an arsenal of skills and a book of stories to accompany. He started his path at Madison College in the 2010’s, solidifying his roots in Madison’s photography and art scene. Despite the rise of Madison’s fresh generation of talent, Kiander is established as one of Madison’s early wave, multi-medium visual artists.
An example of Kiander’s work.
Kiander and I settled in at his friend’s apartment. After common pleasantries, I learned that Andy, the owner of this apartment, and Kiander periodically collab on pop-up shows. Andy caters the events with fresh eats while Kiander captures portraits of friends and strangers. Kiander sets up shop at venues such as Commonwealth Gallery and Milwaukee street festivals, as well as local bars like the Plaza Tavern. The duo sometimes even outfit Andy’s apartment to be a venue.
Kiander can often be found in local venues, such as the Plaza Tavern.
That said, it became apparent that pop-up shows are Kiander’s favorite type of event. He enjoys the freedom to create and promote his own event, something uniquely found in a pop-up show. These shows are definitely more casual and intimate, a scene that Kiander flourishes in. He described how shooting portraits reveals each subject’s personality. From there, his inspiration takes over: “It starts out with just simple portraits, but soon there’s plants—other props in the mix.” He pulls from the disposition of each person, and picks the camera and the shot to match it.
Although pop-up show portraits are fun, Kiander doesn’t stop at just basic portrait photography. He’s well-versed in multiple different camera platforms, such as polaroid cameras, vintage film cameras, and digital cameras. With such a wide array, I had to ask what his weapon of choice is. Kiander simply responded, “It all depends on what I’m shooting.”
He explained that because each event has a different vibe, he chooses a specific camera to capture it. “Polaroids are fun,” he said. He then added how the medium allows for an almost instant, physical copy, which makes the photos easy to distribute. “And I use film for shows” —referencing his knack for going to local concerts and shooting on both compact film cameras and digital.
Among Kiander’s work is an intriguing style he refers to as “3D photographs.” And the creation process is almost as interesting as the product. Kiander uses a special camera from the 80’s that captures the same image from four different angles. Traditionally, one would use the camera to create physical photos with the same three-dimensional characteristics, referred to as a lenticular photo. However, Kiander amended this process to keep up with the digital trends. In this case, once the image is captured, he takes to Photoshop, where he overlays the images to create a looping GIF. The end product is a three dimensional photo that can be posted online.
3D photography, as Kiander calls it, creates the illusion of a three-dimensional photo. (Photo credit: @_shakylegs_ on Instagram).
This type of photography has been taking Instagram by storm. New cameras and apps have been created to replicate this photo. But, take it from the king of 3D photography— “Nothing compares to the original process” —referring to the qualitative difference between 3D images created in the imitation apps versus the original lenticular cameras. Although the photos may appear all the same to us; a trained eye, like Kiander, can easily spot the difference.
Kiander was an early adopter of the 3D photography trend.
We wrapped up the interview by talking about future plans for Kiander. He explained how he wants to get to a point where his art can fully support him. As of now, he splits his days between his photography business and his job as an Art Director for Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction. He is currently working towards becoming a self-sufficient photographer and artist.
For more of Kiander’s work, visit his Instagram, @alexkiander or his website linked below: