Artist Spotlight: Ashley Walters
BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
Ashley Walters is a native Portland photographer whose only description on her Instagram is her height. Standing tall at 6’ 4” she has a unique ability to capture images from angles most of cannot get without the use of a booster seat and the results are more than captivating. Combine that with her years of balling on the court and it was no surprise that when I dished her sarcasm, she sent it right on back. Enjoy the back and forth banter while you meet our latest artist spotlight!
Name: Ashley Walters
Hometown: Portland, OR
Age: 28
Profession: Photographer, Creative Director
Website: ashley-walters.com
OATH: First off, you claim to be one tall individual? Personally. Being a dude who struts the strongest of 5' 10" small stack status. How's the weather up there?
Is it a claim if it's a fact? 6'4'' baby baaaaby! And that's real, no roster height. How do you think the weather would be if you always got priority sunlight? It's beautiful up here. I haven't been your height since I was 13 so I don't remember much about what it's like to be way way way way way way way way down there but I can show you some things about the weather up here if you're truly curious.
OATH: What was your last project and what is the next horizon for you to head into?
I'm wrapping up a few projects right now. I have an editorial and an album package on the way that I'm really excited about, the teams I've been working with are incredible. I have quite a few friends who started businesses during the pandemic that directly support the community so I've been helping them market/build content, it's really cool to see the way they're creating amazing resources for Portland.
Upcoming projects are spotty. The pandemic still has everyone nervous, so a lot of projects get cancelled last minute. I have a couple commercial gigs and editorials in the works, but most of my schedule is packed with community work and personal projects right now.
OATH: At this point how long have you been shooting photos?
Oh man. Professionally? I started getting paid to shoot when I was 15- it was all basic portrait work but I was a little hustler. However I first picked up a camera when I was 10. My friends and I, we all wanted to be the coolest kids on MySpace so we'd dress up and shoot each other. Our favorite shoot location was the abandoned mental hospital down the street from my house (that's a whole other story), but we actually produced some pretty cool content. So I'd say I've been exploring the art of photography for a solid 18 years now.
OATH: Who and what inspired you to pick up a camera?
Originally, all the hypekids on MySpace. Then I discovered Flickr, I'd spend hours there. But I had a few mentors in my teen years that really sparked me. I started modeling when I was 14 and I loved the whole process, but I wanted to be in charge- I wanted to control the shoot, not just be a piece of it. A few of the photographers I worked with planted some seeds that manifested into this drive to refine my craft. I remember when I worked with Stephen Gilbert- this guy is constantly swimming in the deep end. Small talk for him is like, "here's what I'm learning from the most traumatic thing happening in my life right now, how about you?". When we first shot I was going through a really tough time in my life. He introduced me to the depth of beauty within that darkness, handed me a book of Dave LaChappelle's work, and something clicked like, can I use photography as therapy? I never took an art class, never had an art teacher. But I felt a lot of purpose in creating and I knew I had an eye. So I never stopped exploring that.
OATH: What is your got-to camera? Like say you are allowed to shoot with whatever and budget is no issue. What's that setup? What's the rip?
I've always been a Canon girl. So if somebody could magically get me an early release of the 5d Mk V, that'd be my choice. With a selection of every lens to ever exist ranging 18mm-85mm. But lately I'm much more into shooting film. This year I've purchased probably too many 35mm baddies, Holga's and Polaroids, I'm still learning a lot. If I could, I'd call up one of my film guru homies, ask him to get me a super rare film body to play with with a special film that was probably discontinued in the 1980's. Something I don't even know about yet but definitely can't afford to buy. That's the dream.
OATH: Being so tall. You ever play basketball?
So much basketball! Damn near every day of my life. I played for the University of Idaho. Both my parents played at Montana State, so I was born into it. My parents had me dunking on little tikes hoops before I could walk across the room. My family is full of athletes, so we're very, very competitive. It got ugly when we played Monopoly growing up. Somebody would always end up crying, or bleeding (me). After college I coached for years, both boys and girls aged 10-18. Now I just coach NBA summer camps and take my washed ass to the rec for open gym. I miss it every day. It's still a huge part of my identity. And my background in sports shows in my creative process. Being an athlete and being an artist are ironically very similar experientially, I could write a whole book on it.
OATH: Do you have a significant? Do they ask you to grab one off the top shelf?
Honey, all the men I've dated in my life range from 6'5'' - 7' but you bet your ass I grab off the top shelf anyway, because I can. I often wear heels when I shoot so I can get angles that the average human can't reach without a ladder. I take a lot of pride in my go-go gadget arms. One of my top 5 favorite things to brag about, so thank you for asking. I can even smack you upside the back of your head from here, you should ask me about that too.
OATH: What is your dream aesthetic? Client calls you and says 'x,y,z plus budget is nothing." and you skip the loo. What's making you skip? Let's hear your aesthetic here!
I'd skip all the way to a glass basketball court floating in the sky with super-extra hoops made of gold and jewels. The models will all be power females like Rihanna and Serena and Michelle Obama and they'd be decked out in a Nike x Givenchy collab. They'd be playing 5's against a team of my favorite NBA players, including Kobe so we'd have to resurrect him (RIP). It'd be an editorial piece on the influence and oppression of men/women of color in sport, fashion and culture. And obviously the women would be whooping the guy's team asses, for a million reasons.
OATH: Virus in the room. How has this pandemic affected you? Personally, my freelance status was the perfect fit for this issue. Was it shit at first then chill? Was it consistent? Let's hear the rant on it!
2020 I was scheduled to be traveling the country to shoot some of the biggest names I've shot yet - bucket list clients, destination weddings, tours with crazy talented musicians. Then we went into lockdown, two days later I caught Covid-19, and within a month all of my contracts for the year were cancelled. So at first, like all of us I went through this grieving process. But what filled my time instead was a lot of community work, photojournalism, and editorial work using only what we had in our closets, with teams of individuals who are close friends of mine. It was humbling, it was full of purpose, and it was fucking beautiful. Work is starting to pick up again and those commercial clients are crawling out of their caves but now I feel more connected to myself, my philosophies as an artist and my community more than ever. My bank account isn't stoked but my heart and soul are.
OATH: Welp we both know it was coming here. You work very well with the BIPOC community of Portland. I want you to dig in here and tell me your views.
Because I was raised in the sports and art industries here, my inner circle is racially diverse. I grew up being the not-so-rich girl in a wealthy suburban community, but I'd often be in North Portland hooping with the inner city kids; and in that environment, I was the rich, privileged white girl. So from a young age I was exposed to a wide range of life perspectives from varying sides of the spectrum of race, class, gender and culture. And the entitlement and ignorance that often came with wealth and whiteness drove me nuts. So I always do my best to work with certain types of people- particularly BIPOC and women- not only because of the value of their perspective but because they don't have the platform or privilege they deserve, especially in the creative industry. It's overwhelmingly diluted with white men whose mommy and daddy bought them their $10k setup. So what we can do is help build each other up, provide opportunities for each other. Which has been especially prevalent this year with the pandemic and BLM movement. Obviously there's a lot going on in Portland. And I have a lot to say about it and the importance and reality of what's happening. But I don't think ya'll want to read a novel right now, just DM me lets chat about it :)
OATH: That was heavy. Respect. Was that you or my dog that farted?
My bet it was you. It's okay though. I was told in 2020 we're normalizing farting. It's a movement apparently.
OATH: Anything in the works right now that we should all be triple checking out screens for?
My website is getting a major update! She's about 6 months behind. I'm terrible about keeping up with social media so there's lots of unseen work I'll be sharing on my site. I have a few projects in the *very* early planning stages with some musicians and athletes too. Lots of cute stuff, cute people.
OATH: Anything else you would like to add? Shout outs to anyone? Or better, any middle fingers you would like to hand out?
Shoutout Jeanne, you're the greatest mom ever.
There's always a few middle fingers but I try not to entertain it. I just let karma handle it. Karma's truly the savviest, most clever savage bad bitch. She always handles it better than I could- I can tell ya some stories. I love her style.
OATH: Can't sign off with this. Kill, fuck, marry? Tupac, Jeremy Meeks, Mark Wahlberg.
If you didn't immediately throw Jeremy Meeks out the window then I can't trust you. Marrying Tupac is the obvious choice, no question. Mark Wahlberg would be a cool side piece too. He could get it once or twice.
