We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashley Duffy a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

Part of my identity growing up and during my early adulthood had to do with my initials, AAA. My maiden name was Ashley Anna Akerman, and many people would refer to me as triple A, Ashley Anna or Akey, and sometimes I would even sign off as “AAA”. So when it came time to hammer down a name for my business I wanted to keep some of that identity that I had lost when I married and took my husband’s last name, Duffy. With that in mind, I also wanted to keep my craft in focus without having a naming convention consisting of my full name followed simply by “photography” like so many other photographers use. While this is great for many, it just didn’t sit well with my style. I wanted something that would stand out more and be unique to me. I also do a lot more artistically than just photography, so sticking that term at the end of my business name just wasn’t inclusive enough for me. I am a visual artist with a main focus in photography but I also love to illustrate using both traditional and digital techniques, paint using acrylics, watercolor or oils, and create mixed media pieces of all the above that include skeletal articulation of found animal bones and shells. So, Ashley Anna Artistries was born. Encompassing the various forms of art as well as reflecting back to my Ashley Anna, AAA identity.

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 have always been a creative. I’m just wired that way. When I was a junior in high school I enrolled in my first darkroom photography class. I had a digital camera I had been gifted a couple of years prior and had fun creating with it. Once I started spending time in the darkroom and working with film, it really changed the whole way I looked at photography as a whole. Creating imagery with film is fickle. You only get one shot and you have to not only make sure your in-camera settings are perfect to record the image but you also have to make sure you follow every process thereafter perfectly. All of this while still taking the known risk that your image may not come out after dedicating so much time and energy into it’s creation. The anticipation of that whole process was so exciting. Working with light. That’s what the base of photography really is. That light can create amazing compositions and with film, it can also be the deciding factor of whether you make or break your imagery. From then on I was a light chaser.

After I graduated from high school I decided to pursue a degree in photography. I wanted to keep creating with something I was passionate about, knowing that so much of our everyday life has to do with photography whether you realize it or not. So much of the imagery you see on advertisements, social media, television, books, menus, etc. all of that has a team of photographers creating visuals for you. I wanted to be a part of that.

In college I realized how much fun I had working with people. Meeting new faces, finding ways to capture and tell their personal stories. This only solidified my love for the craft. Now I come home from sessions so hyped and I always tell my husband how much fun I just had with each family I’ve worked with and so much of that comes from the conversations that happen during our shoots. I work hard to capture each family’s essence which requires me trying to get to know them before the shoot and while from behind my camera.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In my first year of business, photographing families, events, and residential / commercial real estate, I became pregnant with my first child. At the time, I was taking on any work I could get and hadn’t really found my “niche” yet. Unfortunately, during my daughters chaotic and dysfunctional labor, we lost her. My daughter was a healthy full term baby who was still born due to lack of action by the medical support staff. After I woke from the anesthesia from my emergency c-section, my husband and I spent time with her for many hours. We took so many pictures with her as well as with other family members who came to visit. The hospital even had a photographer come in and take pictures of us and of our daughter, Finley. So much of that time is a blur, but I cherish those pictures more than anything. That’s all I have to be able to look at her face, her features, the tremendous amount of love that surrounded her.

Fast forward to the next year, when I felt the courage to take clients again and continue working, I made a choice to niche down to a specific market. I wanted to focus on families. Families in every stage from the young families experiencing the bliss of a beautiful baby bump to extended families that have generational love with grandparents surrounded by their children and grandchildren. Even while mourning the loss of my daughter and dealing with the internal battle of where I stood within motherhood and as a professional, I knew I wanted to keep my focus there. Give a family the gift of beautiful memories of their precious newborn. Capture the pregnancy glow of a first time mother. Have the opportunity to take that last, forever cherished portrait of someone’s parent or grandparent.

The way I cherish the only photos I have of my firstborn, I knew that my mission would be share my passion with others for the same reasons. One day, pictures are all you have left when you want to see the faces of your loved ones or reminisce on distant memories. So even though working with happy, pregnant women or fresh newborns after experiencing such a life altering loss was difficult, and many of the people close to me didn’t understand it, I made an active choice to be resilient and pursue that line of work for those reasons. It only made me more passionate about the importance behind capturing every stage of family life and providing a positive experience for each and every one of my clients.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect for me is getting feedback from my clients about how much they love the service and product I have delivered. Knowing that I have created a fun experience and something tangible that they will cherish forever, share with their friends and family, and display proudly in their homes, that is all a win for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.AshleyAnnaArtistries.com
• Instagram: Www.instagram.com/ashleyannaartistries
• Facebook: Www.facebook.com/ashleyannaartistries
• Linkedin: Www.LinkedIn.com/in/ashleyaduffy
• Other: https://hulafrog.com/wesley-chapel-lutz-fl/ashley-anna-artistries/
  https://www.tiktok.com/@ashleyannaartistries

Image Credits
Ashley Anna Artistries