Alexa Ihrt, born in Hamburg, Germany,
based in Los Angeles, California, USA
AWARDS
2016, Winner Emerging Cinematography Award
2016, Max Öphüls Preis "Born In Battle"
2016, UNESCO Gandhi Medal
2015, Nominated for best Cinematography
48h Film Festival "Zoe and the Prince"
Alexa got her hands on still cameras at a very early age. Being the daughter of a well-known German photo journalist, she knew about shutter speeds before she learned how to write. After school, she studied camera technologie at ARRI Munich: It was the moving images she wanted to master.
In 1995 she entered the American Film Institute`s Cinematography program on a scholarship and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 23. She was given the chance to learn from masters like Allen Daviau, Michael Ballhaus and Vittorio Storaro before graduating in 1998. Here she developed a love for lighting that would become the fundamental base for her cinematography. She first joined the Local 728 Union as a gaffer and in 2010 joined the Local 600 Camera Union.
As a DP she went from short films to music videos and commercials then on to documentaries and features, shooting in the Americas, throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. She credits her collaboration with crews from many diverse cultures for greatly expanding not only her toolkit and perspective, but also her passion for uncompromising, authentic stories.
In 2016 she was awarded with the Emerging Cinematography Award from the International Cinematography Guild, Local 600, for her film Born in Battle. Other awards include: Born in Battle (Max Öphüls Preis, UNESCO Gandhi Medal), Chaos Theory (BAFTA Student Award, Student Emmy Award).