Rising Stars: Meet Malack Alu

Today we’d like to introduce you to Malack Alu.

Hi Malack, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My story starts in a small town called Blaine, It’s located in the suburbs of Minneapolis Minnesota. I grew up as the middle child of five siblings with two immigrant parents from the Middle East. I always felt out of place with them, cousins and classmates, with my personality and sexuality. Ever since I was a child, I always said once I’m 18, I wanted to move away from this town. I never really had a plan for my future and only had a plan on how to leave. As a child, I spent a lot of time at home and that caused me to be very creative with the fun I had at home. My dad always brought home random electronics and I sat there and would dissect each item, on how to use it and connect it to other devices. This made me very tech-savvy at a young age and I started using software and programs to edit videos on my iPod and computer at 11. I turned 18 and moved to Chicago loved it but still didn’t feel like I fit, I got tired of the cold and moved to Arizona next. I enjoyed my time but definitely wasn’t my place and decided I needed more and a new chapter so I moved to LA. Once I got to LA, I felt like I finally fit somewhere. So many people here are so driven, passionate, and open-minded. Before I left at 18 the last electronic I took from my parent’s house was the NikonD90. I took it with me to all three states I lived in and never decided to use it till I got to LA and the moment I picked it up everyone loved my photos and surrounded me with support and love for what I wanted to do. Everything just fell into my lap when it came to photography; it was so easy, I just knew it was for me.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Moving to so many places at my early adult years was definitely tough. I grew up very catered to from my parents and had everything done for me but once I left I had to figure it all out all on my own. My dad built me to be very hard-working and determined so when I saw real life and how it worked I had nothing holding me back but deciding this is what I needed to get done. My life was easy back home but I knew once I figured life out it would be easy on my own as well. What pushes me every day to do more is knowing my dad made it to America after escaping the war in the 90s with no education or knowledge of America and still made it to support a family of seven. With that being on my mind I very much appreciate my life in America and how easy I have it compared to my parents. So I would say it was a little tough but nothing I wasn’t able to handle.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a photographer, videographer, and creative director. I love catching the beauty in people in their everyday lives. I specialize a lot in behind-the-scenes work because I’m able to capture people while they create what they love. I am most proud of my recent shoot in October 2023 with babystorme for Paper magazine. I was able to capture bts content for a magazine shoot after only starting photography in May 2023. I feel like what sets me apart from others is how I will put my all into creating something I love and working so hard from the creative aspect but also the people aspect. Having people skills in this industry is so important and I feel like I cover both extremely well and that’s how I got to where I needed to be this quickly. I’ve been in rooms and working with people who have been doing photography for seven-plus years and for me to be on my 5th month on the same project sets me apart and shows I I will go far with this.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Something surprising about me is definitely my background in editing. Yes, I just started this professionally but I also been editing for years! I started a Vine account in 2012 and had over 300,000 followers for my editing skills. I was 12 years old with the biggest and first edit account on Vine. People showed me and my videos so much love and would even #1 trend my birthday every year with #HappyBirthdayMalack like imagine you’re a middle schooler and you had so much power on an app to be creative, and that’s when I fell in love, with the creative direction of making something cool and something people want to watch.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/malackies?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr