Audrey Alexandrescu ~ Photographer ~ Vancouver, BC
1. What inspires, moves or drives you?
This one is hard because I was trying to come up with a concrete answer but I’ve realized it always changes. I’m inspired by either my friends, other creatives, art I see, sometimes nature. It really depends on what my mood is like and where I am mentally. One thing that is constant though is I’m mostly driven by other people’s success. It sounds so cheesy but I really believe that if someone can do it, I can do it too.
2. What are a few of your favourite things?
I have too many favourite things haha. I actually have a note I wrote to myself when I was feeling down a year ago titled “things that make me happy” and some things are: hearing rain outside the window, green tea, head scratches, bubble baths, Baboo (my cat), the sound of the ocean, when dogs yawn!!!
3. What does an ideal world look like to you?
Oh maaan another hard one! There’s so much to me that could change to make an ideal world, but ultimately I would say an ideal world would be one not ruled by corporations and greed. A world filled with more compassion, more understanding, more mental health care. I really feel like if we put more effort and care into everyone’s mental health, and lifting each other up on a personal and even professional scale that the world would run more smoothly economically, societally, and spiritually.
4. What is your “offering”, creative or otherwise?
I’m a photographer! I still have some weird feelings about actually calling myself that, but that’s what I am haha. I’m also a certified yoga instructor and have plans to learn aromatherapy and reiki in the future! I love creating cool photos/concepts, but my heart lies with helping people and I plan to find out the best way for me to do that.
5. How can we find your work or follow along with your journey?
You can find all of my recent work on Instagram! @auudrey.a, or directly on my website, www.auudreya.com. I also keep all of my festival albums public on my personal Facebook, Audrey Alexandrescu.
6. What are your favourite quotes or words to live by?
I actually used to have a whole note in my phone filled with quotes that meant a lot to me or struck a cord but..it has since been lost. Even so, two mantras that have really stuck with me are "You will end up where you need to be" and "When you make a bold decision, things will shape to support that decision." Both of these are quite reassuring for me to hear/say to myself because sometimes I get so wrapped up in my head and ideas and a lot of self doubt, that it's really important to me to be able to ground and remind myself that anything that's supposed to happen will, and anything that's not, won't.
7. Who are your heros/heroines and how have they impacted your life?
My three best friends and my boyfriend, hands down. I’m constantly in awe of them and their achievements, their drive and perseverance through life. A couple of them have been through hell and back and seeing them still be optimistic and genuinely kind people give me so much motivation when I’m dealing with things in my life.
8. How will you leave your mark on the world, both in terms of community and the environment?
I’ll start with the last question about contributing to the planet - I actively try to make sure I do everything I can with the systems we have to be as green as possible! Recycle everything, compost, have re-useable bags, reuse containers, buy less one time packaged items if I can, and shop consciously/ethically! I’m sure there’s more I can be doing and I’m always looking for more earth friendly practices to implement that I may not already do. Ultimately, I want to leave my mark/be remembered by helping people. One of my big life goals is to change the way mental health and addiction services are accessed in Vancouver. On a smaller scale, being able to just help people in my life suffer less, or be that non-judgemental support for them is very important to me and if I can accomplish that then I will genuinely be content.
9. What advice would the present you share with the past you?
Don’t listen to people who say that photography isn’t a real job. I think that would’ve let me pursue my dreams a little earlier, but I’m also glad I didn’t because I’m at a place now mentally where I feel more confident in myself and my abilities.
10. What challenges have you overcome and how?
I feel guilty admitting this, but I truly have had a privileged life so far and have not had any crazy life changing traumatic experiences. Not yet anyway. Besides my parents being extremely strict and some hard times with friends in high school, it’s all been relatively alright. Up until and including now, my biggest challenge has always been myself. Fighting against myself, my mind, and my own anxieties that has really been debilitating at times. When I’m feeling that way I really just have to sit in my feels and let it pass. I can’t make it go away, I can’t work and go to shoots to work through it, I really have to just be sad or anxious or whatever it is until I get out of it. And I used to think I was missing out on opportunities, but I’m really not. Taking the time for yourself never makes you miss out on anything that you otherwise would’ve had. My advice for people overcoming challenges or scary transitions would be to take your time, and let yourself feel and heal. There’s no right or wrong way to feel better. What is right is what works for you and that is never going to look like what someone else is doing. Don’t be afraid to reach out if you need to, or to take time and space away from people. As long as you’re authentically doing what you feel you need and not numbing (although we all do it sometimes), everything will WILL be okay.