Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Aisha Guenther. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Aisha , thanks for joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

To put it simply: passion. Passion is, in my opinion, the most important thing you need in order to be successful. For me, it is the driving force that propels my business forward. People respond to passion. You can tell when you put your blood, sweat and tears into something, or when you love it so much that you get completely lost in it. I think you can be good, or even great, at many different things in life, but the most important things in life are the things that set our soul on fire. Those are the things that we should be chasing, and if we do, we are already one step in the right direction toward achieving success.

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

My name is Aisha and I am the proud owner of Aisha Lee Photography. I am based in Rhode Island, but I travel regularly to capture love stories and creative brand shoots around the world.

My love for photography started when I was a young girl. I spent many hours playing dress up, taking pictures and experimenting creatively with my family as my test subjects. In high school, I was always the girl with the camera at events or when I was hanging out with friends always offering to take everyone’s photo. Soon after I graduated high school, I was approached by several new photographers looking for models to help them build their portfolio, which I agreed to. This gave me a whole different perspective on photography, as I went from being the one holding the camera to being the subject of the photo. Throughout that process, I had to learn on the fly how to make the most out of every shot; what angles look the best, how to find my light, how to pose myself in ways that are more photogenic, you name it. This experience helped me so much in fine-tuning my creative process and knowing what I was looking for when I picked up the camera myself to take photo later on.

Shortly thereafter, I decided to attend college to be a physical therapist assistant- mainly because I never considered photography as a career. From a young age, as with most people, I was told that in order to be successful in life, I would needed a college education and I would have to do something that offered stability. Then I started traveling with the man who later became my fiancé, and I could not get enough of taking photos with all the incredible back drops that were naturally available to me. At the time I was mostly just taking photos of us on my phone, but I got myself a tripod and started to continue to hone my photography skills in a way that I never had before.

As I’m sure everyone can relate to, COVID impacted a lot of aspects of my life. I lost my job in the physical therapy world and life seemed more uncertain to me than it ever had before. I started to ask myself, “am I really going to be happy as a physical therapist assistant for the rest of my life?” Eventually, I realized that the answer to that question was a firm no. I felt lost, and since I was out of work, I had a lot of free time on my hands. At this low point in my life, I did the thing I always do, which is turn to art. In December of that year, I bought myself a professional camera and began offering free shoots to anyone who would let me take their photos. The world was in a very dark place and it brought me so much joy to be able to capture the one thing that stood tall among all of the pain and uncertainty: love. There was love and laughter and joy everywhere, and capturing it lit a fire within my soul that I didn’t even realize had been extinguished. I learned quickly that spending those days taking free photos of complete strangers reignited that fire and I ran with it. By March, I was able to go into photography full time.

Now my specialty and passion is in capturing creative brand photography and couples sessions. This is partially because I love romanticizing real life moments. For me, cooking dinner isn’t just a mundane weeknight activity; it’s dancing to your favorite song and kissing your best friend on the counter. A rainstorm isn’t just a pull-out-your-umbrella-and-run-for-cover situation. Now, it’s soaked clothes, wet skin and frantic hands in the hair as you feel more alive than you ever have before. I believe the small moments are often the most important. For me, being the one to make you feel that in a photograph is my greatest joy. I love being able to take photos of people that tell a story of adventure, romance, and the authentic self. Whether that’s bringing a vision to life during a creative branding session or capturing absolute joy during a couples session. Highlighting those moments is what makes my heart happy.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My goal for photography has always been to allow myself the creative freedom to continue to shoot what I love. I think it can sometimes be difficult when you turn your favorite hobby into a job or career. Oftentimes, people lose their passion and drive and end up regretting their choices or losing their spark for whatever that thing is. So for me, I try to make an active effort to shoot creative projects as often as possible, while also remaining selective of the jobs I take on to make sure it’s the right fit for me and my creative vision. That’s how I ensure I get the most out of my photography without losing that spark.

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

The most rewarding aspect of being a photographer has been getting to bring my artistic vision to life. I can walk away feeling proud of my work when I am able to take some little speckle of an idea, whether that be from a line in a song or a perfect location, and turn it into something magical. Every step of the process is rewarding; from formulating a plan, to taking the shots, to editing them and bringing the story to life. I love the entire process and the creative freedom this work gives me, so it would be difficult to name just one thing that I find rewarding. The whole experience is rewarding in and of itself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.aishaleephotography.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/aishaleephotography

Image Credits
Jake Chennisi Emma McDougall Catherine York Jake Cavalloro Jolie rouleau Hailey Balletto Gretah DiOrio Samantha Stephenson Keith Greene Alex Barish Newport Classic Cars Baxters Jewelry Amari Salon Quentin Guenther Nicolette Peloquin Taylor Leier Robin Lee Jean Ashler