We were lucky to catch up with Ashley Luthman recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?

Thank you for asking, I’d love to share with you how I came up with the idea to begin hosting women’s retreats. Thankfully my photography and retreats both tie beautifully into one another and because of that I was able to seamlessly incorporate my women’s portrait work in with the retreat. A little back story on how I began helping women heal through photography. I first began intimately photographing women in 2017 after Toya (who eventually became a dear friend) reached out one evening telling me this is something she’s wanted to do and was ready after seeing some maternity pictures I had recently shared. She had survived breast cancer and was asking if I’d help her find confidence in her body again after cancer and surgery. Up until this point I had never photographed a woman in that way, so intimately and delicately. I was there to honor her and her story and what she had overcome. The session was more than I think either of us thought it would be, it began to heal both of us in a multitude of ways and to this day am forever grateful for her reaching out and trusting me with her story. I knew from that day forward this was part of my mission and purpose, to help women on their journey to love and deep connection with self and with other women on the same journey.

From there, this client turned friend introduced me to another amazing woman, Leah, also a breast cancer survivor (twice now) and we worked with a team of wonderful women for her session to help her feel seen and held throughout the entire process. It was so beautiful to see all of these women come together to help bring healing to this wonderful woman. That is truly where this idea of building a community of women, for women came about. I continued photographing women who were on this journey and who were searching for a place to find themselves again, in an environment where they would feel seen and held so they could find safety within their bodies. The more women who graced my studio the more I knew and felt in my soul that I could do more to ensure they felt supported even after leaving their session. I know how healing and transformative these sessions can be and have been, but the word community just kept coming back to me. So after years of attempts to create this community I knew I had to approach it in a different way. Last year in the beginning of 2023 the words “host a retreat” that had been placed heavily on my heart was no longer deniable and I knew that was the answer to my hopes for community. It was so clear that I couldn’t ignore it. I believe now that it came to when it did because I was finally in a place in my healing that my purpose was greater than my fear and the trust I had in my mission was more clear than it had ever been before. The perfect place to host my first women’s retreat also came to me in the same way. I knew the moment I saw the retreat house, this is where it would be and the retreat is what had been missing in creating and building of the community I was dreaming of. A community for women where I could walk with them through their healing and provide the deep connection women are craving. That deep connection that isn’t just with self, but with other women on the same journey. The first retreat was everything I imagined and more. There was time for rest and building self trust. There was time for laughter and time for creating a safe space to allow every woman to open up and share what was on their hearts. It was beautiful and such a blessing to be a part of. I am gearing up for year two which will be hosted in October and I hope that the community continues to grow and deepen with each year.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Thank you so much for asking and I am happy to share. I am a wife and a mother to 4 beautiful children and I am a Family & Women’s portrait photographer and also now a Women’s retreat host. Next year will be 10 years since I began my photography business. I’ve always had a love for photography from a young age taking pictures with our Polaroid camera. In middle school, my best friend and I were the photographers for our middle school paper, we do silly styled photoshoot at home, and I would say in 2004 when going to New York City on a school trip with my film camera is when my love for photography really grew. Even though I loved it, coming from a home life where my dreams were often times mocked I never thought it’d become anything more than a hobby. I didn’t actually consider it a possibility for me until I had our first daughter and an extremely supportive husband. Like many photographers I knew, I wanted to find a way I could be a stay at home mom, but also find something for me. It took me a while to niche down and find what really inspired me as an artist. That is how I found myself to specialize in family work and my passion work with women.

Being a mother myself I find that approaching my family work in a documentary style way is the most connected I’ve been with this aspect of my work. I started thinking about all the things I would want captured as a mother and have really been able to lean into that and become more creative and intuitive with how I capture my families. When I started approaching my family sessions in a more family led way it opened the door to get more creative with how and where we chose to do the sessions. So in the planning process of the session we are choosing places and moments that are true to their story. Whether it be at home, a favorite park or ice cream shop, we will authentically curate fun and intimate moments that capture every personality honestly and with intention.

When it comes to my women’s portrait work I am not only capturing the essence of who a woman is, but also creating a safe holding space to allow them the opportunity to be vulnerable with not only me, but with themselves. Sometimes we just need an environment where we can give ourselves the permission to let go of the shame and doubt and let love in. I know how hard it can be to love and accept our own bodies and minds because I’ve been there many times. But the work that I am doing here is creating and holding space for women coming back home to self. This is the foundation of The Art of Finding Her | Women’s Retreat.

I am most proud of my ability to be inspired by others work, but continue to stay true to what calls to me and how I show up in my work. I am also proud of the community I have built because of the work I’ve done to help women find confidence and self love. I love creating a safe space and showing up for other women the way I wished someone had shown up for me. It has been a huge driving force behind my own healing journey.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I believe what helped build my reputation within my market is being as authentic, vulnerable, and true to myself as possible. I am an open book and I share my story, things I’ve overcome, and my mistakes that have built me. I believe sharing my story can help others find hope and give them encouragement that they too are capable and can overcome and can find joy and healing after darkness.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I believe the most rewarding part of being an artist/creative is the healing that comes from sharing my heart and soul through my work. Don’t get me wrong, it comes with its challenges as with any job does, but the benefits of spending a lifetime of finding myself and reinventing myself through art is poetic and healing on a multitude of levels.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ashleyluthman.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleyluthmanphotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashleyluthmanphotography