Art Stop Social

Aleksey Volchek is a local photographer in Long Beach, CA. He created Art Stop Social as a high-quality coverage of the local art scene. He brings to light local artists to build stronger, well-defined cultural capital for the city. We have conducted a short interview with him:

Why did you choose to be a Photographer in Long Beach CA? How differently are you doing this and which key elements in this work inspires you?


I moved to Long Beach from Los Angeles to attend Long Beach State, at the time I really just wanted to take a break from LA. But little did I know how amazing is this city’s culture! I’m truly blown away from the diversity of its people. Long Beach and its citizens are very tolerant people for the most part and value art. This environment really transformed me from a party photographer to a photographer who realizes that I can make change in the world with my camera. I’m inspired by my marketing studies in the Uni. Together with my theatre degree – I have powerful art and business synergy that I can channel through my photography, which is pretty much the only skill that I mastered. Outside of photography I’ve dabbled into many things, which makes me appreciate those who mastered them.

How would you describe your style in this unique art of photography? What are your strengths? What do you like to shoot? 

I enjoy photo essays. It’s a visual story telling that is very powerful. Humans are visual creatures. My strength is relationship building. Photography is 10% skill, 90% relationship with the subject. It’s not difficult to take a stunning photo of clouds for example – what difficult is the commitment to do it well and do it often, as often as possible. There are dozens of photographers that take photos of nothing but nature and live the millionaire lifestyle it’s not that they are good at photography – they are, but they love nature. My signature style is often seen in my nightlife and party photos. It’s called futurism and two Italian brothers have pioneered it back in 1908.

What have you not capture before and would wish to have an opportunity to have a hand at it?

It’s my dream to travel the world and capture people celebrating life in their traditional way. This is what truly unites humans – that is celebration. And we ought to see it for ourselves that we are all in love with life and we all love to party. There’s great deal to learn from the way different social groups of people celebrate life.

Which are the magazines and media have you been featured in? Besides creativity, what do you think contributes to your successes so far? 

I’ve freelanced with “DJ news magazine” back in a day. This gig opened a lot of doors for me, including a residency at Avalon in Hollywood, one of the most respected nightclubs in the EDM industry. This experience has helped me realize how quickly things can change once I took my nightlife photography more seriously. My life has literally transformed from boring to exciting and profitable. This experience is what really drives me forward. The trick for me is not to replicate it but trust of its re-occurrence as long as I’m moving forward.