Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexia Johnson.
Hi Alexia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hello, my name is Alexia Johnson but everyone calls me Lex, I am the owner of Pariah Visuals. I started videography because all of my friends made music but had nobody to record them when they would make songs. I knew I didn’t want to create music like them, but I knew a camera always interested me. I bought a camera shortly after the idea came to my mind, and I started to shoot all their music videos. As soon as we made the first music video, I knew I wanted to be a filmmaker for the rest of my life. I didn’t know anyone else to record but my friends when I first started using my camera, so I would try to record things that didn’t necessarily need anyone else to make the film happen. Creating inspirational voiceovers, vlogs, and my friend’s music videos.
After doing this in my hometown (Ashburn, Virginia) for a year, I wanted to do more with my videography, and I thought the best way to do that was to move. My brother was in Denver, Colorado at the time so I decided to start there. I moved to Denver, Colorado for six months and got into some videography there for a little bit and got a call one day from one of my artist friends. Saying he just moved to Los Angeles and needed a roommate. I thought to myself, I’ve always wanted to move to Los Angeles, why not?! I packed my bags, put my two weeks in and drove from Denver to Los Angeles with no job and no house waiting for me to move into when I got there and I knew about 2 people throughout the whole state of CA. I moved to Los Angeles in 2019 and have loved every minute of my journey since I have moved here.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Nothing in life is easy, that’s what I love about the journey. Well first off, I came to Los Angeles with no house to live in and no job for me to make income right away with. Something happened in Colorado and I wasn’t able to bring my camera with me to Los Angeles. I actually didn’t move here with a camera. I literally came to LA with 600$ to my name and no camera to shoot with. I shot our first couple of music videos with my iPhone 6. The first couple of weeks we all split a motel 6 room and slept in our cars a couple of times as well. It was me and two others that came from my hometown. After a hard battle of finding jobs in LA for 3 months we finally all got jobs and was able to get a 2 bedroom house. We all could only afford a two-bedroom house at the time, So I had to live in the living room. I lived in the living room for about a year and a half. After 2 and a half years go by, all my artist friends had to move out the state, I was then left with the decision to keep going, keep achieving my dream or do I go back home to my hometown because now I have nobody here in Los Angeles. I decided to keep going and achieve my dreams of being a full-time filmmaker, staying in Los Angeles.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a videographer and a photographer. I got into Videography first because of my friends needing music videos. But once I started learning more about filmmaking and I got my first 4k Camera. I decided to learn how to take photos professionally as well. I work with a lot of music artists. I love music, and I love making music videos. Music can heal the world to me. I love taking a song and making a visual that connects you even more to the song as the listener than you already were. I also love to shoot artists doing live performances. Being on stage is always really fun! But I honestly shoot everything, I love shooting events, fashion films, promos, real estate, weddings, vlogs and sports.
My favorite/ what I specialize in is by far music videos and anything related to shooting content for a music artist. I love using cinematic techniques and effects creating a visual that’s more than just a video, it’s an experience. Which is what sets me apart, when you create a video with me, especially a music video. It’s not just a video, it’s an experience. It’s a collaboration, it’s a feeling, and it’s a time in your journey that we are documenting. I love creating great fun comfortable vibes on set. Whether there’s 100 people or just 2 people on set, the vibe is always the fun same vibes.
I’m most proud of my whole journey honestly, there’s been so many times where it just didn’t seem like things were going to work out but they did and I am still here in LA living my dream. When I moved to LA, I only knew two people and didn’t know very much about filmmaking professionally yet. I knew how to make videos but nothing that was really able to make me a full-time filmmaker yet. Once I got to LA in 2019 I really focused on my craft and really made things a reality for my videography. I wasn’t really a big go up and meet new people at the time kind of person, but now I can definitely hold a conversation with someone I just met. So I’m honestly just proud of not giving up and being able to really put myself out there more as a business owner now.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I honestly don’t have anything that is surprising about me, I am very much an open book, and I love to have a great time when creating any type of art.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pariahvisuals.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pariahvisuals/?hl=en
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/visualsbypariah/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D
Image Credits
AizhyyKO Mia Kennedi KALIKONILA Pariah Visuals Logo
