LIFE + FILM PHOTOGRAPHY WITH KYLE MCKENZIE
GUSTO35 ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
WRITTEN BY: ALEC WELSH
Kyle's from Melbourne, Florida but his parents split when he was just seven years old. His Father stayed while his Mother and himself moved to West Palm Beach. This, "Started a whole other lifestyle". Coming from a small, sleepy, surf town of retiree's, he now found himself surrounded by extreme wealth and an equestrian lifestyle.
His Mother started dating someone that was doing pretty well, which opened his eyes how differently he was treated. "I got into art maybe two years later, I started editing because my brother was just getting into photography". Kyle would only see his Father during the summers after the move and when his brother got the camera, he admits envy; "Fuck, I wanna make something, let me fulfill my ego and prove something to my Pops - I'm creative too"
That's why he specifically chose Adobe After Effects as his video editing software, "I knew that was the hardest program you could possibly learn how to edit on". On his birthday that following year, he got a GoPro which "Changed everything", going on to say that, "I was able to create something for myself. That was cool, I started filming surfers, started filming skating, I was doing like wave photography, just doing everything I could".
This led to him getting macro type lenses for the small mount but that clearly wasn't giving him the capability he needed to execute the craft at the level he desired. So at the age of sixteen he got his first DSLR. "That's kind of like the ground work that set the tone for everything I think, those days of growing up and just experiencing life for what it was".
At the time of this interview, Kyle just turned twenty-one and has lived in California on and off for three years. When asked what provoked his current use of film from such a digital background, "That was inspired by Point & Shoot".
He started taking shots in between his frames when using a usual DSLR and he just felt they were exeptional. When Kyle ponders about the future of film, "I don't know I'll just have to see, but I know all I want to do is just shoot more of it".
What's he working on now? "Lately I've been working on myself and saying yes and no to the things I want to do and the things I have no desire of doing". Staying ispired is easy, "I think it's little sentimental things that really capture your soul and speak to you. Maybe art piece or something your friend says that makes something click".