Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Edwards.
Hi Ashley, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
While my work as a photographer began when I just wanted better photos of my first-born (over ten years ago), my work as a creative began far before that. I found a passion for writing and journalism in high school, where I realized the storytelling of everyday humans was fascinating and worth telling.
I didn’t end up pursuing journalism in college (I finished with the boring route – marketing), but that curiosity for human-interest storytelling never went away. I began a documentary approach to photographing my family and continued to build that skill over the years. It’s always my favorite way to capture a moment – honest, as-is, and likely imperfect.
My personal work often stays in this area, and lead me to pursue creating documentary filmmaking. I’m actually now in pre-production of my first documentary, which is on Near-Death Experience (after having gone through one myself).
That’s where my personal work and my commercial work start to differ. My brand photo and film production company, The Awe Studio, still keeps the approach of capturing honest moments, I do have a more strategic approach I take. I help my clients with building out stories and helping them tell them visually, while capturing it in a way that doesn’t feel staged or fake. I love learning about brands and helping them find a way to show up in a way that feels good and natural, so that they can go out and do good in the world and make impact with the visuals they share.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Smooth is not the way I describe the road. I’ve thought about quitting more times than I can count.
“Go out and get a real job” is often the voice in my head, because its echo stems from all of the things us Millennials have been taught over the years. We were brought up to believe that you get good grades, go to college and find a happy, easy life. I think we all know that is a pipe dream now. So I fight those notions that pop into my head from time-to-time.
Because of the career I’ve chosen, one of passion and creativity, my work feels even more so interwoven into my personal life. And when my personal life has struggle, so too do my photography and filmmaking.
The challenges I’ve faced span from “feed-me-I’m poor,” to lack of clients, to the fact that I almost lost my life in 2021 (due to cardiac arrest and eclampsia), then my husband went and one-upped me last year with cardiac arrest and a near-week stay in the ICU. We’ve literally faced death and said “try again later” (hopefully when I’m much, much older).
These were the types of challenges that made me question, “am I doing something wrong – am I selfish for choosing a career that is also my passion?” I’ve wanted to throw in the towel many times, and pursue something that voice in the back of my head tells me to do. Choose a path that makes more sense in the world. But every time I try, I am reminded that my natural talents are far more important and meaningful than a “real job.”
In all of those challenges, there is something that has helped me get through. Something that reminds me that I am doing the right thing. I reminded myself that being true to your character, continuing to do good in the world, believing in what you do (and the impact it makes), and continuing-on despite the odds, that is what makes our work as humans meaningful. Those struggles we face and the way we create ourselves out of – it inspires our art. It fuels our art. Struggle is what makes our art, art.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I like to call myself a creative, not because I love the label, but because it helps me wrap up all of my interests into a pretty little bow.
I’ve always been a creative, exploring the world through different creative mediums. Writing and music were my first loves. I had my first poem published in 5th grade (it was horrible, don’t ask to see it). I was a journalist in high school. I explored music for years in college. Self-taught myself photography. Discovered filmmaking years later.
I now find myself dwelling deep in the creative jungle, with no escape.
Documentary photography is what feels the most natural to me. Not because it’s easier, but because I like what it does for us humans. It asks us to remember that sliver of time and who you were in that instant. It freezes a moment in time that we will never get back. It reminds us of our humanity, of our mortality. In a time where integrating artificial intelligence and life extension is an honest reality, I think documentary photography is more important than it ever was.
But filmmaking – that’s my newest passion. Something I realized about filmmaking, is that it combines every single creative endeavor I have undertaken in my life – writing, music, photography, and puts it into one medium. Once I realized that, it was game over for anything else!
You may not even believe what I am most proud of! The photos of my children and family, 90% taken on my iphone. I find pride in it because I’m able to remind my future self of what that moment looked like from my perspective. Not from a JCPenny photographer, not from my husband…but from me. No one will be able to take a photo like that.
As far as what sets me (and my art) apart – I think it’s my attitude toward life. I believe in second chances, in imperfection, in curiosity and gratitude. I believe in the beauty of the small things, those things many people shrug off or don’t even notice. I believe that capturing the world as-is, without a bunch of filters and fake shit, that’s what we should remind our future generations about.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I can describe my past view on risk-taking as – you step on a crack, you break yo’ mama’s back.
I was always hyper-aware of the dangers in the world, a lot due to my mom battling OCD and anxiety when I was younger. Her vigilance rubbed off on me a lot.
Little Ashley would always hear: “Don’t go outside, there’s bad people out there.” “Don’t stand near the ledge, you could fall and die.” “Don’t eat that food, it could be poisonous.” “Don’t get on that skateboard, you could skin your knee.”
There were a lot of warnings in everything Little Ashley did. She was taught to avoid everything so that she could avoid being hurt (or hurting mama’s back).
Never a gambler, unless I knew I would win (just ask my friend Gloria about the pumpkin bet). Never a rule-breaker, unless it was absolutely necessary.
Something shifted in early adulthood, and I completely flipped on that perspective (a little too much), much to my dismay. Risk was all I did. That didn’t work out well.
As I outgrew adolescence and young-adulthood, I eventually began to understand there is no clear-cut answer on anything.
Living your life without trying anything risky can leave you without the friends you met outside, without that crazy food-poisoning story you tell your kids, and without knowing you tried riding that skateboard.
Sometimes it’s a mistake. Sometimes it’s life-changing.
So sometimes I get on that skateboard…and fall and skin my knee. Sometimes I go outside…and find amazing people. Sometimes I eat that food…and get extremely sick. Sometimes I stand near that ledge…and see an amazing view I never would have if I didn’t.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ashleyedwardscreative.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleyedwardscreative
- Other: https://theawestudio.com/
