Welcome Home

Late last year I bought my first home, and after some remodeling over the holidays, I moved in at the very beginning of the year (talk about a "new year, new me" way of thinking).  Decorating my first home was surprisingly natural feeling, and with more space to express myself than I've ever had before, it felt like absolute freedom (well, without taking into account budget).  I second-handed a majority of my new home, obsessing over interior decoration like never before.

This photo-shoot started out being shot outside, but once Sheridan came indoors is when the magic kinda hit me.  She matched my house in this perfectly doll-like fashion, the pale pinks and beiges accompanied with lacy and sweet details.  I've had several people tell me that my house reminds them of a doll house, and I guess that description kind of just stuck in my mind. 

I titled the series "Welcome Home," because this photoshoot really made my house finally feel like home and not just a house I live in. I also thought of Belle in the Beast's castle and the way the magical occupants welcome her into her new home when she first decides to stay. There's something kind of amazing about being thrown into a new home unexpectedly, and "discovering" it is this weirdly wonderful feeling I encountered.  I decorated it and I had already lived in it for a few months, but I felt like I was seeing it for the first time.  I wanted to show a few of my favorite details of my home in these photos. The library in my home, built by my amazing father (and holding my huge collection of books), is a detail I couldn't resist showcasing, and was coincidentally inspired by Belle and I's mutual love of books and my dream to have a library in my home one day. The pink velvet chair Sheridan is sitting in is part of my living room furniture that I got for an incredible deal on craigslist, and she's sitting by my sliding glass door which lets in the most beautiful light during the daytime. I also have her sitting in my wallpapered room inspired by Alice in Wonderland, one of my favorite stories, as well as at my vanity table that was a part of my old room.  

Welcome Home, featured in Kaiouti Magazine May 2015

Model: Sheridan Markham

Photographed and Styled by: Ashley Holloway

Bra: Jasmine & Ginger, Skirt: Vintage

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Bra: Jasmine & Ginger, Skirt: Vintage, Pom Poms: photographer's own, Necklace: vintage, Shoes: Model's own

Dress: OAOA studio, tights: photographer's own, Shoes: vintage, earrings: vintage

Floral hat: vintage, Top: vintage, petticoat: photographer's own, Necklace: Betsey Johnson

Dress: vintage, gloves: vintage, Floral headpiece: Monstruosite by Dolly Donshey

To see more of my work, you can visit my:

Website: www.ashleyholloway.com

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ashleyhollowayphoto

Instagram: @ahollowayphoto

Deviantart: www.queen-kitty.deviantart.com

Who Am I?

     So, I've been tossing the idea around in my head for awhile of creating a blog where I can post all of my photoshoots with little blurbs about the shoots and inspiration behind them, etc.
    In college, I was required to write artist statements about every artwork I created, and while I think my work has strayed from the artistic realm and mixed itself more readily with fashion and portraiture, I still feel an urge to explain myself, whether they were planned or spontaneous.
  So many of my photoshoots are related to the experience, and it's hard to look at them from a non-emotional standpoint.  Every photo-shoot is like my child (sometimes they're my problem child...).  I really want to share with you my thoughts on them, not because I hold any grand illusions about my work, but more so because I want somewhere to write about it, kind of like a diary (but without too much of the embarrassing stuff).

    My name is Ashley Holloway and I'm currently 26-years-old and living in Florida (near the Tampa area, nothing too glam like Miami).  While the area is continually being built up around me, I'd still call myself a small town girl.  I live on an acre of land in a rural subdivision, and you can still drive down the road around my neighborhood and see beautiful pastures with cows and horses among other things. It's not as rural as it used to be though, I have a Super Target and a Publix within five minutes of my house, but it's far from being the city. This is the kind of environment I grew up in and one I'm continually inspired by.  Nature is usually a given in my work, although in the past couple of years I've been really pushing working in the studio because I enjoy the simplicity.  Other hobbies include thrifting (a lot of the clothing in my photoshoots are pieces I've thrifted), reading, admiring art, daydreaming, making smoothies (does that count as a hobby?), and trying to be more adventurous.

   A lot of people tell me my work is dreamy, and that's a description I will confidently attach to myself and my work.  A lot of my work, especially in the beginning, was based on various fairytales, and I suppose that's still an apt description of my photography. I love photographing subjects that tend to have a soft, innocent feeling to them.  Photography is an escape, and reality isn't something I like to sully it with too often.  I'm especially inspired by childhood and adolescence as being that age where you can still see the natural world as being magical. A lot of my subjects tend to look like they're lost in a daydream. I'm also just incredibly inspired by beautiful faces and capturing them on my camera.  A lot of times I find it difficult to plan a shoot without a face in mind, because a model's look and personality determines so much for me. My work is also pretty colorful (except for when it's not, I love creating b&w photos), and I dearly love any kind of flowers.

 Finally, even though most of my work is digital photography, I also work with a lot of instant film and occasionally bust out 35mm film (which if I had an unlimited budget and time I would shoot a lot more of).  I grew up shooting 35mm film, so it has a very nostalgic factor to it.
  So, that's just a little bit about me and the kind of work I do. Now I just have to actually post on this thing!