From the Sunset Beach Sentinel, July 2nd 1997

Lovers at Sunset
Sunset Beach's own prodigal photojournalist takes some time to pay her respects to her home town.
Queen of the Night - Bette Katzenkazrahi

Alex Mitchum's been to over one hundred nations. Backpacked alone through the mountains of China, been lost in the jungles of Madagascar and always looked fabulous doing it. She's been internationally recognized and earned her laurels for her work. In fact, the only thing she says she'd do differently if she had a chance to do it all over again would be to drag her son along.

And you all know her son as the heaven-sent Apollo of the lifeguard tower, Casey.

Now she's unpacking her camera for a few weeks and studying her closest landscape. When you go down to the beach, watch for the spritely blonde with the tripod, chances are she's working on her new project.

"Lovers at Sunset" is the working title of Alex's book. (Due out this time next year if you want to mark your calendars) Like her past five compliations, it is a pictorial journey through a world few have really seen. But as a first for our native girl, this one features people.

Not models either, but real people you may know and see everyday. Why you ask, dear reader, why the sudden change of both heart and subject matter?

"Intimacy." Is the short and simple answer. "All my projects have been grand journeys through the unknown. This is a small journey through an even bigger unknown." She tells yours truly, Queen of the Night.

"I wanted to pay homage both to the history of the town and the people closest to me. The people I've loved and those who have touched their lives." She continues, exposing her poet's soul.

"I like to think of photography as a way to freeze this point in time. So everyone I know and the beauty of their lives can live forever, even as a single moment."

So who is she choosing to live forever in the pages of her project? All volunteers. Having finalized it on the seventeen-hour flight home from Africa, she keeps the handwritten list of her desired participants in her purse. What do they say when she asks them?

"Yes. Hopefully." Alex chuckles as she explains she hasn't had the chance to ask many of them yet. "Casey and his new sweetheart agreed right away." This new sweetheart is the most recent addition to Surf Central, Dr. Heather Jensen, marine biologist with the Oceanographic Institute.

"So did Roger, but he'll do anything an attractive woman asks." The junior Baxter boy is in as well.

"Ethan's very photogenic in that soulful British way. He's been a good subject. We got a lot done in our morning together."

When asked if she has a favorite, her bright blue eyes turn wistful. "Of course I do. I think everyone has that special couple that they know."

But she's not telling who they are. We'll all have to wait for the book.

Not everyone in her list are lovers in the traditional sense. "A lot of my subjects are still looking for the loves in their future. Some are looking to the past. But no matter who they are I'm asking them to share a lot of themselves."

I don't know about you, but this reporter thinks it'll be worth it. You'll find me on page 18.