We recently connected with Ashley Howland and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Ashley thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
When I was 14 on a random whim I told everyone I wanted to be a fashion designer who lived in New York City. I couldn’t draw, and looking back… I had literally no interest in fashion design… But what I did love passionately was looking at fashion magazines. The photos are what inspired me. The creativity, the uniqueness, the way each photo set was out of the box. I could tell when the same photographer was used at a young age. I could differentiate their different styles.
I think at that point I realized that maybe I didn’t want to be a fashion designer… but maybe I wanted to be apart of a different creative world that had its foot in the fashion door.
Ashley, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I picked up a camera when I was 15. It became a hobby at that point, but it was something that quickly became a part of my identity. I was the yearbook editor and photographer in high school, and then after high school went to college to get an art degree specializing in photography. I quickly realized 2 years in that a degree was not going to help me creatively.
I struggled for years to really find a way to make this creative dream a reality.
At some point, I found myself through my art. I started putting my own style and twist on weddings, senior portrait sessions, brand sessions, and anything else I booked.
I made sure people knew who I was as a person before they booked with me. I do things differently than the majority of people in the photography world. I want to stand out for my work being different but more importantly I want to stand out as an artist for being kind & compassionate.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
STOP ASKING PEOPLE TO WORK FOR FREE! I don’t think there is any other industry where this happens as much as it does.
I think a lot of people think people in the creative industry magically pay their bills. Because otherwise I don’t understand how we all get asked to do free work continuously.
It may seem like it just takes time to do our job in this industry, but it takes so much more. It takes years and years of experience. It takes time away from our families. It takes thousands and thousands of dollars of equipment, classes, gas, and upkeep for us to even start in this business.
I feel like the best thing society as a whole can do for the creative ecosystem is value the process. Pay us what we are worth.
I could never imagine going to someone in another profession and asking them to “do me a favor” and work for free.
(Just a PSA…. if you don’t have the funds to pay for creative services… this is different. As I believe everyone deserves to have their memories captured. But there are other ways to approach this… do you have another service to barter? Coming to a artist with a barter of some sort is much better than asking them to do just work for free.)
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
For me… it’s the joy my art brings to people. These moments I capture are loved and cherished for a lifetime.
I get to capture the first smiles, the first kiss of a marriage, the wrinkles of a new baby who is growing daily, the weathered hands of grandparents, the every day moments that are looked over until those moments are just memories, and all of the in between moments.
I think capturing people being their authentic selves and all the memories they get to celebrate is by far the most enjoyable part of this whole gig.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ashleyhowlandphotography.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/ashleyrheaphoto
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/AshleyHowlandPhotography