We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ashinedu Jose. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ashinedu below.

Ashinedu, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

In February 2023 I created a project called ‘A Taste of Black Mizzou’ , in efforts to highlight the black community at the University of Missouri, which is curated of creative, intelligent, and talented individuals in any area you could thing of. With the help of my good friend and upcoming stylist Grace Akhalu, we put our minds together from start to finish and co-directed our first project in the series titled “A Taste of Black Mizzou: Yearbook edition”. The final product and feedback was heartwarming and we received so much love and support from people all over the country. Over the summer we began planning our next project in the series, coming this fall.

Ashinedu, 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?

My Name is ashi jose, I am a proud Nigerian and grew up in the suburbs of Kansas City. As you can probably imagine it was difficult growing up in a predominately white community. This is where I began chanelling my creativity that would set me apart from my peers. In high school I founded my freelance photography business “Photosbyashi”, dedicating countless hours every week to shoot sporting events at my high school and began networking with athletes in my area to shoot workouts, practices, open runs, and tournaments. I began working for MOKAN Basketball my senior year of high school, which open many doors and opportunities to work with some of the best athletes in the nation. As I entered college I was open to trying new things outside of sports, and had ideas that had been sitting in the back of my head for a long time. This is when I created “A Taste of Black Mizzou” and added studio photography to my skill set. You could say I do a little bit of everything, and thats what I love about being creative with my work. I dont like to limit myself and am always looking for new opportunities to expand my skills. I am currently a photography intern for Mizzou Athletics, alongside my own freelance work.

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

When I look at the sports industry I see amazing women who have worked endlessly to get into those spaces, and id say thats my biggest drive a motivation to want to be apart of that.

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

The most rewarding aspect is knowing I put my all into something, and seeing the final product. Especially when it comes to my bigger projects that take months of planning and braining storming.

Contact Info:

• Website: photosbyashi.com
• Instagram: Photosbyashi
• Linkedin: Ashi Jose
• Twitter: ashijosee