INTERVIEW {kevin von qualen}

Meet Kevin Von Qualen, a super 8 film and colorado wedding photographer

Not hiring Kevin for his Super 8 expertise was my only regret for my own wedding. He is a true artist and is so refreshing every time I have a conversation with him. He reminds me how lucky I am to be able to photograph weddings. Thank you Kevin for being an inspiration.

Self-portrait video – Boulder, Colorado from Kevin Von Qualen on Vimeo.

Words of Kevin Von Qualen:

This self-portrait video was also a personal project attempting to share my internal vision along with my external creation of work. I wanted people to know me as an artist more. The challenges I had given myself for this video was to convince the viewer that I was an artist and photographer, without ever once showing a camera. Also to give the illusion there was a camera crew with me, when in fact I was alone in the wilderness.

I believe personal work should be one of the highest priorities as an artist….too often we can get caught up in business and forget the passion we had when we first began creating.

Aspen, Colorado – Super 8 Film from Kevin Von Qualen on Vimeo.

This Super 8 was my very first ever attempt at wedding cinematography, and began as a personal project that I funded. I chose Super 8 because it’s an imperfect medium, and I wanted a contrast to today’s overly perfect, photoshopped images. I wanted that warm, comforting feel like watching dreamy childhood home movies. I film in the same style that I photograph, shooting for moments. This personal project attracted lots of attention and has now become part of my business.

I ventured into business in 2004. I had never considered photographing weddings until I fell in love with them while assisting in 2003. I love the challenge of being thrown into a situation with little control over lighting, weather, and emotions. I also love the human element and atmosphere at a wedding.

I began photographing 15 years ago now. While in high school, I quit sports and began taking night classes in photography at the community college. Eventually I received my degree in Art & Design at Northern Michigan University. I still assist some photographers for fun and experience, and also challenge myself creatively by taking projects outside of the wedding industry.

I am horrible at submitting work for publication, but there is a long list of places I’ve been featured listed on my website including, Style Me Pretty, Destination I Do, and Elizabeth Anne Designs. I also had the honor of one of my photos making it onto a book cover, as well as shooting my first national ad campaign this past year.

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, but ran off to Upper Michigan for college when I was 17 for a more outdoorsy atmosphere. My wife and I moved to Denver 3 years ago to pursue our adventurous side and fell in love with the city, the mountains, and all Colorado has to offer. Unless having children in the future changes the game, we will be settled here in Denver for the time being

To me, all visual work needs to have intention, meaning, and purpose. If my work is not capturing or creating something profound, I start over. Life is filled with too much sweetness to settle, and has too much meaning for living the mundane.