To be tender, I met a girl nearing the end of this past Summer when this class began. I feel comfortable with her presence because she sees me for who I am. Feeling this also came with knowing she was leaving at the end of the Summer to continue college in the United Kingdom. This with other events left lost in my personal, professional and educational life as we agreed not to pursue a mutual relationship. We took photos at the Hillwood Estate for my Portrait assignment right before she left.
Ashton x Emma "Hillwood Portraits" 2022
After her leaving, we remain friends and still talk on occasion. However, I noticed that my work got much darker after this not necessarily in content but just in the overall vibe. I was thinking a lot about relationships and growing distance with people around the very beginning of our class because it's something with which I've never been able to cope. Emma leaving brought these sensitivities to light, and one thing that helped me think about it in a positive image is this photo. Whomever it is in the photo, he looks around my age and whenever it was taken may have experienced similar heartaches if not worse. To rationalize, I thought about how he's living a normal life despite his past and one day I'll find myself in his shoes.
Ashton x NVCC "Restoration" 2022
Listening to records is another way I cope with heartache. I had recently purchased a rare Electronic record from a seller in Germany. It took a few weeks to get here and I was ecstatic when I got it. The album "Lost in the Tropics" by Bonus Points has a lot of uplifting songs in it that hit the mellow mood spot. I usually stay up really late at night whenever I do this, contributing to some pretty bad sleeping habits that is evident in my next set of work.
Ashton x NVCC "Record GIF" 2022
Whenever I stay up late on these record listening binges, I reflect on myself and my experiences differently than I would during the day. Whether or not healthy, I love being the only person walking the block for miles for the buzz it gives me. I like to focus on composition in these hours, it's a lot less vibrant and easier to focus when everything moves slower. It makes my work look eerie, and ultimately I think it reflects how I see the world as an only child that's used to being alone with their thoughts. The surreal feeling of "having the world to myself" for a little bit is my reset button in these kinds of times when I feel lost. This timelapse was taken on a pedestrian bridge near my house which has a clear view of the Washington Monument around this time of year.
Ashton x NVCC "Night-Time-Lapse" 2022
Double downing on my bad habits, why would you walk a pedestrian bridge if it's not on the way to get a midnight snack from 7-11? My panorama project is another addition to the late night vibes, except I went around a second time and improved on my initial mistakes. I recomposed this image to get lamp posts in it and the full pump cover structure too. I really like how this adds anchors to the side of the image, but also gives more reference for the lights in the subject area. Had I gone during the day my surroundings would overwhelm me.
Ashton x NVCC "7-11 Panorama" 2022
