L' oeil ailleurs

INTRODUCING ASHLIE CHAVEZ
I live in LA County, specifically, Diamond Bar. It’s a good place to live. It’s a quiet suburban area- which is what I like. I like feeling safe more than all else. I’m 23 years old! I started shooting my first year of highschool -so I think I was 13 or 14. I consider myself to be a late bloomer photography wise. I did start using film immediately so I’m proud of that. I was pretty obsessed with the idea of the dark room. The red light and chemicals seemed so foreign in relationship to a photograph. So I quickly learned how to get that whole set up in my garage. And also my mother grew up being a professional analogue photographer so having all of her equipment at my dispense was definitely an incentive. Well, my goal as an artist is to share something personal, yet tasteful, so that it in turn can motivate some one else to do the same. I’m a strong believer that “creating” is a therapeutic endeavor and that all should have a share in it in one way or another- be it through painting or design. A great porting of my money goes to my photography fund and an even greater portion of my thought goes to how to constantly be growing as a photographer. It’s weird how passion takes over your brain if you’re not careful. I carry a camera with me always- a pretty heavy and crappy one. So I feel like everywhere I go I have this subliminal directive to capture something. I have a twin sister named Amber. We do a lot of collaborative work together. Even as we are getting older we’ve discovered how impeccable we are as a team. I don’t know if we would have discovered that if we weren’t so into photography. It’s like, when you’re on a similar road with someone, you can either choose to separate or collaborate, either grow strong independently, or strong as a unit. We chose the later of the two and I’d wouldn’t give that up for anything. Maybe it’s girly, but I’d be pretty lost if I didn’t have my sister backing me and visa versa. To everyone I know that is showing an interest in photography, I tell them this about equipement: use anything and everything! Don’t be picky! I shoot with whatever works and I don’t think twice about it. Some great things can be developed out of old and janky cameras. This is a picture of me. I’m 5 months pregnant in this photo. I had been crying for a few hours before I took it, because I hadn’t seen my sister in a few weeks and I missed her and I think my stomach was hurting bad. That’s my mom’s room I’m in. I pretty much felt useless at that time and wanted to hide. I was pretty bummed I couldn’t fit my whole self into the drawer. I like hiding in things. I admire Elinor Carucci’s work. I learned about her my first year of college. Her “Closer” series really inspires me. The work is so personal and clean, and very beautiful, but at the same time it’s raw in the sense that it doesn’t seem to be censored. Each photo in that series can stand alone and still be just at strong as the series all together. There are just so many great things about her work.

I live in LA County, specifically, Diamond Bar. It’s a good place to live. It’s a quiet suburban area- which is what I like. I like feeling safe more than all else. I’m 23 years old! I started shooting my first year of highschool -so I think I was 13 or 14. I consider myself to be a late bloomer photography wise. I did start using film immediately so I’m proud of that. I was pretty obsessed with the idea of the dark room. The red light and chemicals seemed so foreign in relationship to a photograph. So I quickly learned how to get that whole set up in my garage. And also my mother grew up being a professional analogue photographer so having all of her equipment at my dispense was definitely an incentive. Well, my goal as an artist is to share something personal, yet tasteful, so that it in turn can motivate some one else to do the same. I’m a strong believer that “creating” is a therapeutic endeavor and that all should have a share in it in one way or another- be it through painting or design. A great porting of my money goes to my photography fund and an even greater portion of my thought goes to how to constantly be growing as a photographer. It’s weird how passion takes over your brain if you’re not careful. I carry a camera with me always- a pretty heavy and crappy one. So I feel like everywhere I go I have this subliminal directive to capture something. I have a twin sister named Amber. We do a lot of collaborative work together. Even as we are getting older we’ve discovered how impeccable we are as a team. I don’t know if we would have discovered that if we weren’t so into photography. It’s like, when you’re on a similar road with someone, you can either choose to separate or collaborate, either grow strong independently, or strong as a unit. We chose the later of the two and I’d wouldn’t give that up for anything. Maybe it’s girly, but I’d be pretty lost if I didn’t have my sister backing me and visa versa. To everyone I know that is showing an interest in photography, I tell them this about equipement: use anything and everything! Don’t be picky! I shoot with whatever works and I don’t think twice about it. Some great things can be developed out of old and janky cameras. This is a picture of me. I’m 5 months pregnant in this photo. I had been crying for a few hours before I took it, because I hadn’t seen my sister in a few weeks and I missed her and I think my stomach was hurting bad. That’s my mom’s room I’m in. I pretty much felt useless at that time and wanted to hide. I was pretty bummed I couldn’t fit my whole self into the drawer. I like hiding in things. I admire Elinor Carucci’s work. I learned about her my first year of college. Her “Closer” series really inspires me. The work is so personal and clean, and very beautiful, but at the same time it’s raw in the sense that it doesn’t seem to be censored. Each photo in that series can stand alone and still be just at strong as the series all together. There are just so many great things about her work.

3:38 am • 19 May 2010 • 9 notes