Alex Simms is an 18-year-old boy from West Virginia. Besides taking photos, he enjoys traveling, hanging out with his friends (a.k.a. the Weekend Warriors), attending Super Smash Bros. parties, and occasionally rewatching episodes of Arrested Development on Netflix.
78 Comments
I love these…captures my idea of paradise, too.
BEAUTIFUL!
wowowow, stunning!
I especially dig the first and last ones, your work is beautiful Alex! :)
These are gorgeous! I especially love #8! How do you get that effect with it focused in the center?
I’m not Alex, but… if you swirl your camera around, the center will stay in focus (but use a manual focus to ensure this) :)
Precisely! Thanks for answering for me mdemariah, as I didn’t have an account until now.
I absolutely adore this collection of photos! They’re very Martha Marcy May Marlene-esque.
Great photographs! I really liked 14 but I have to say, as a suburban girl who lives near a large national park, I can’t say that I relate to this as my paradise. But hey, to each his (or her) own
oh my god these are beyond beautiful
Great pics Alex!
I crave summer even more than ever now!
Rosie x
Okay I am sooo in love with this boy, these are astoundingly beautiful.. I find paradise in nature, too
these are beautiful.
These are all so nice <3
oh my, polaroids. photo 14 is my favorite but these are all great.
Alex’s work is gorgeous! I wonder if he reads these comments?
i am thoroughly in love and extremely impressed with the way he captures seasons. seriously amazing and gorgeous.
Very pretty (particularly no.14!) but my idea of paradise would be multicultural. Well, that’s an unfair statement of me to make; but I have felt a little sidelined by recent picture-based posts on Rookie that have consistently featured the same waifish, fair-skinned and doe-eyed young females. I liked the recent anti-gender-binary shots but didn’t that just emphasise the difference between those who adhere to the ‘Tumblr’ standard of beauty (coincidentally promoted by Urban Outfitters) and those who don’t? I love Rookie and I don’t mean offence to the staff or Alex Simms work but I find that, as of recently, I only look forward to text-based posts.
thank you for posting this because it wasn’t until i read your comment that i realised i’ve stopped looking forward to photosets, too, for the same reason.
not to diminish how beautiful these photos are because i do really really love them (i am absolutely in love with 5, 12, 14 and 15) but i feel like shoots such as Hometown Heroes and Teen Witch really set Rookie apart because they celebrated a different standard of beauty.
i agree that the recent anti-gender-binary post was a+++ though.
that’s a little unfair. I mean, in the case of Alex and in the case of many people you photograph the people you know and that is not a purposefully exclusive action! he, a teen boy, is friends with teen girls and they in your eyes happen to fit a convention of ‘beauty,’ but knowing him/his work they’re his friends (he is not just seeking out ‘waifish fair skinned doe-eyed females”). I don’t think the anti-gender binary shoot was meant to emphasize a split; beauty is multifaceted.
I understand your frustration but Rookie is in fact trying to promote/showcase diversity and it is doing a much better job at that than many magazines for a teen girl audience! rookie is trying to work out a lot and it has time to do so don’t lose faith.
I feel the same way. To me, it’s not about what is available to the photographers but what is posted on the site in general. I really enjoyed reading that girls hair journey (I can’t find the article/title) and I would love to see more things like that to read about some different perspectives.
agreed.
I think that you are being overly critical. First of all, rookie wouldn’t reject this beautiful photography simply because it wasn’t diverse enough. Second, there really aren’t that many places that are amazingly diverse. Perhaps the photographer lived in an area where there weren’t many people of different races.
Also, not all of these people are waif-like. He doesn’t focus on their bodies, he focuses on the setting and the position of the people.
I mean, you cannot even see anyone’s faces in these photos. I think their personal identities are not the point!
I know I’m responding to this late, but I’m not offended at all! I see where you’re coming from. However, it is never my intention to really focus on whomever I photograph, as I photograph anyone when I get the chance to, haha. My friends in these photos just happen to be used to me taking photos of them, that’s all. Also, I am actually multicultural myself! I am half filipino and half caucasian, as well as my other siblings. I would love to take photos of my sister, but she always declines, haha. Thank you for liking that photo (no.14), it is particularly one of my favorites too.
I felt bad about what I said so I’m relieved that you didn’t take offence to it. My criticism wasn’t directed towards this particular photo-set and I think that I didn’t communicate it properly. I was just trying to say that Rookie’s recent photo-sets have made me uncomfortable in that, to the credit of each photographer, it wouldn’t be unusual to see some of them in a professional, glossy magazine in particular because of their choice of models. I understand that these are part of the aesthetic/vibe that Rookie tries to give out. But one of the reasons that I avoid glossy magazines is because they’re always promoting self-love and then focusing on a single, elevated standard of beauty. I had just been wondering if such a standard is represented on here as well.. Please understand that I wouldn’t have written this comment or the one above if I hadn’t felt strongly enough about it.
Hey, Jeanette. When you say our recent photo-sets, which ones are you talking about? I feel like our Style and Eye Candy photo albums have been pretty diverse lately. And we rarely use professional models.
Beautiful. Looks like hazy rural/suburban area. They do feel like a version of paradise.
really pretty
Wow, stunning photos! So many different views of what Paradise can be. I really enjoyed these. :)
xo, Tori
these are amazing!! #3 is my favorite
these are incredible, my idea of paradise is incapsulated in these photos
I love these! They are so pretty. This does really seem like paradise. :)
does anybody else now have a crush on this alex simms d00d? is he single? can we make art together and pick flowers in a field and then watch arrested development? anyways, what a dreamy collection of pictures!! it is a total bummer rainy day right now in missouri, and these paradise photos are giving me a rush ‘o’ sunshine and fairytale inspiration
Rookie photographers, I need some camera advice.
Can you recommend a relatively cheap (under 200 dollars) digital camera?
That would be lovely.
yes! Nikon Coolpix cameras are really good! the Nikon Coolpix S210 for example is an excellent camera (it’s $139). it’s the camera I took most of my photos on before I got a dslr and most people can’t tell much of a difference at all because the quality of the camera is so great.
Thanks!
I adore William Eggleston, and finally found the cameras he used in Kentucky and Mississippi- models like the Contax G2, the Leica M6, and Canons, Hassleblads, and Olympuses- and, of course, a cheap, lazy teenager can’t really afford any of those.
Evidently I’m a novice, but I gotta start somewhere.
William Eggleston is a remarkable artist! he’s one of my favorite photographers EVER! I completely understand. those cameras are amazing but maybe you’ll save up for one one day. for now, little digital cameras can be your best friend! and nothing wrong with being a novice. the learning process makes it so worthwhile.
This would be awesome. I have a cheap camera and it works fine, but it’s, well, a bit old and unsophisticated. Good cameras are expensive, but if there’s a pretty good one for under 200 it would be cool if somebody could recommend one.
What kind do you have?
Eight and nine are my absolute favorite. These are beautiful photos! (:
Gorgeous.
Too beautiful! Absolutely love it
Very ethereal and evokes a sense of nostalgia. Excellent work.
Breathtaking!
xo
Beautiful photos! :)
LOVE LOVE LOVE those photos!
absolutely stunning effects!
These are astounding! They are so beautiful! Great job.
Very Beautiful……
These are very nice. It’s different from my idea of paradise which is very warm and like LA or Hawaii. My favorite is #3. Did he take the background picture today (yellow flowers, Unicorn) too?
Breathtakingly beautiful.
wow these are beautiful! i’m loving how many photo sets rookie has posted recently
These are gorgeous!!!! They have such a cool vintagey feel and the photography is amazing. Can I see more of Alex’s pictures?
Thank you! You can find more of my photos at flickr.com/casimms
So beautiful! The landscapes look straight out of Impressionist paintings. :)
I want to go to there.
Caden x
EXACTLY what I was going to comment. haha.
I love that you can’t see any faces clearly. It’s all a haze of wonderment and old friends and strangers alike.
hmm i wonder if the name “the weekend warriors” a reference to the book looking for alaska…if so this dude is awesome
Hey Alex Simms! Do you want to be friends?
These are so beautiful and ethereal. They are to me, like a memory. Permanent but fleeting at the same time; simultaneously taking all of the time in the world and no time at all; meaning one thing and meaning everything…more than we can explain with words. Like when you’re sitting with your friends on the grass in the sun, having experienced none of the world, knowing that next year you’ll all be in college in different places, and that you’ll still see each other, but it will never be exactly the same. You’ll remember the smell of your friend’s gum and the feeling of the sun’s rays upon your skin and the sound of the crickets. Some bits will stand out more than other bits, some things will be a bit blurry, but you know that you’ll remember how you felt, and that’s all that matters.
That’s what I was thinking when I was looking at these. Well done.
This is one of my favorite comments I have ever received in my four years of taking photos, so thank you!
P.S. YES I LOVE NEW FRIENDS.
LOVE
Love theres another dude loving Rookie!!! Love these beautiful pics too!
Also I love the Rookie Eye Candy photoshoots, especially the more “pop” ones. Loved the recent “Greetings From Teenage Hell” and I loved the Bowie inspired one in January!
Keep it Rookies, KEEP IT UP!!! :)
Rookie dudes UNITE.
K totally irrelevant but I just saw pubic hair as a tag on the side bar and died a lil bit
Beautiful photography
Makes me excited for summer looove
Truly great photos!
Wow. This took my breath away. Man, you are talented!
Absolutely stunning! Possibly one of my favorite Rookie photosets. <3
Ooh i love these photos! They’re just so magical and beautiful! :)
munchmecat.blogspot.com
coline-rialan.blogspot.com
twin peaks-y vibes in 3, 5 & 12 x
Love these! They’re all so ethereal and beautiful. 1, 6, 10 and 15 are my favourites.
author introductions (or like…descriptions of people) always seem like a string of arbitrary things that are quirky and supposed to be somehow endearing or interesting. It just seems so contrived to me. Mostly because it is arbitrary. Regardless, the photography was stunning with the exception of some cliche themes. I enjoyed the picture of the boy and his dog the most.
(I’m allowed to democratically critique on this site right?)
I LOVE ALEX! im so glad to see him on here
Weekend Warriors… LFA reference? <3
Awesome pictures.
The last one reminds me so much of Slim Aaron’s photography. (6o’s photography)
Google him sometime, his pictures are absolutely sublime!
And so are yours Alex!
I’m in love with all of these, I can’t get enough of 1 and 2 especially!
AMAZING,
I love these – they’re so much more than typical Instagram photos, they’re real talent that look like they’ve been taken with a lot of thought and artistic view. I wish I could shoot this well, but alas, I am a sketcher, doomed to sit in one position for 5 minutes – 1 hour trying to capture whatever I’m looking at :) Well done!