We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ashleigh Wilson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ashleigh below.
Ashleigh, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.
My mom always wanted us to see the world for ourselves, to really experience it. We were very hands-on in our approach to learning and growing. I loved to read and research but to experience it first hand, that’s very special and not something I take for granted as I understand, it is a luxury. As a single mother, it was a lot, I am sure, but she made sure we really got to expose ourselves to different cultures and people, food and music. She wanted us to really get to know and understand people, not to take human interaction for granted. Knowing and understanding a person is a beautiful thing.
I’m sure it impacted my love for photography. One trip in particular, Jamaica. Everyone warned us not to leave the resort but do you know what happens when you do? You see the people, the world, the smells, the food. I had my first camera and as we walked and played dominos with the locals and had authentic Jamaican food, I was able to not only digest it, but capture it. In the images, children are playing, the music you obviously can’t hear but you can feel, the clicking of the dominoes against the table followed by a big belly laugh, it was beautiful. To come back and share that with people, through an image I took, my version of the events, it’s really great. I think looking through a camera, for me, you get to really SEE people. And I don’t mean the social media, curated versions, I think the real versions of people. Probably why my images are so candid. I want everyone to remember their people just the way they are. I thank my mother for that.
Ashleigh, 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 feel my most inspired photographing people in a way where we feel like WE made something together. I owe my career to the people who believed in me most and therefore, I pour everything into what I do and the people who trust me to capture their memories. Robert Frank said it best, “When people look at my pictures I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice.”
My resume would probably say: Published in NYFW, Tribeca Film Festival, Instyle Magazine, NY Times. Loves the in between moments, finds the perfect sliver of light in any room and has the power to make any groom loosen up. Owner of Leigh Wilson Photography, portrait and lifestyle, family and wedding photographer. Lover of travel, coffee and a good book. Aspiring children’s book author and organizer of philanthropic fundraiser that raises awareness to period poverty. Third member of an epic squad that consists of the boyfriend and the best dog ever, Booger, my 14 year old yorkie.
I want you to know I genuinely care. As an extremely emotional person, I find nostalgia in everything I do. I’ve always collected details throughout my life and have always been inspired by life’s most intimate moments. Photography was always a part of my life. Not as something I did but who I am.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to realize that success looks different for everyone. So any “working hard leads to success” or “Success is the opposite of failure” mantras are not for me. Success looks different for me on what feels like a day to day basis. Society puts pressure on you to get it right the first time and if not your plan B better be solid. As I am approaching year 10 as a business owner, I realize that some days I can not do it all. I need to rest and that’s okay. I definitely work hard but I don’t measure my success in a monetary way but in the emails I receive from happy clients, the way they come back every year. I am proud of myself and the trajectory of my career and of course, there are days when I am like, I wish… but that can go for everything. I think starting is a success in itself. Success is relative. Committing, failing and starting over, that’s amazing to me. I have accomplished things I am so proud of with Leigh Wilson Photography but I think being able to make my own schedule, have supportive people around me and to figure it out without a timeline, I think I’m doing alright.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
As a WOC, it is hard to find spaces where you may not feel seen or represented and I know what that can do to your experiences. How you feel is always going to trump everything else and when you feel good, even great, you are quick to tell a friend who tells a friend.
My business thrives on authenticity and you can’t be your authentic self, if you don’t feel comfortable. If you scroll through my website or instagram, you see someone who looks like you and at our session we will talk and we will most likely be able to relate to each other in some way. I think relatability starts with comfortability before similarity.
I made sure to create a space for EVERYONE and in creating a safe space you allow people to have genuine, authentic moments. One thing my clients always tell me is that they feel really comfortable around me. They hire me for more than just really good photos but also a really good time and in that, we create beautiful images together. They like things a little different, less posed, more of a reflection of who their family or what their relationship is at that particular time. In return I get to capture you, for who you really are and I think I take away the pressure of getting your photo taken and allow it to be another drop in your memory bank. Of course I want to create images you can’t stop looking at but I also want you to be like, “Wow, that was great!”
My business is what it is today because of word-of-mouth referrals and I think it’s because being delighted by your experience is not just about the end result but how you feel the whole time.
Contact Info:
- Website: leighwilsonphotograph
y.com - Instagram: instagram.com/
leighwilsonphotography.com - Other: instagram.com/
leighwilson.weddings
Image Credits
Leigh Wilson Photography