PHOTOvintageSHOP

When photographer Darren Stone approached me to collaborate on a series of photos I had no choice but to say yes. I had previously worked with Darren a couple years ago to gather original material for promotion purposes and was excited to find a photographer interested in shooting vintage inspired scenes that were not the stereotypical retro pin-up girl. I had a vision of strong, self sufficient, powerful women that could kick your ass. Women who were real, and sexy because the possessed these qualities. I wanted the anti-pin up to showcase Mavens fashions, no victory rolls, no lingerie and no scenarios that played down a woman's intelligence. The woman in the shoot are friends of mine. Real ladies that want to make a real difference in their community and in the world. Ladies that stand up for human rights, political change and what they believe in. Ladies that organize opportunities for musicians, writers, photographers, performers and artists of all kinds to showcase their talents and receive recognition from their community. They inspire and nurture youth in these areas as well, creating a new generation to follow in their footsteps. They are the woman that I wanted to be the faces of Mavens. Now with this creative melting pot of people everything came together pretty naturally, even with the spontaneous down pour, we all adapted and were quite happy with the end results.

So back to present time. Darren asked if I would like to collaborate again, this time with a new model and neither of us really had an idea with what sort of direction we wanted the photos to take. We decided to just wing it and see what inspired us the day we would shoot and build from there. It was a whirlwind, from myself meeting our model for the first time, to dressing her, to photographing her, all within hours.

It's always a pleasure working with Darren and I look forward to seeing what we can come up with in the future!

I guess I should introduce myself?

Even though I don't follow anyone and no one follows me yet on the "Google +" I am still feeling like I am in that cliche movie seen where our timid protagonist starts their first day at a new school. You know the one, where the teacher tells them to stand up and "tells us about yourself!", while the class giggles and snickers about how completely lame your life sounds and treats you like some alien with the worst hair cut they've ever seen. Now if in my adult life I had the opportunity to travel back to this awkward scenario in my life it would have a much different outcome. Now creeping up on my 26th year I have embraced my quirks and instead of the cliche end of the highschool movie scene, where after the brief biography, the now embarrassed main character rushes back to their seat with all eyes on them as they either slam the desk with their hands or forehead, I would probably pre-plan my speech and some how incorporate glitter and a lazer show. Woah, random tangent, back to the point....talking to snot nosed teenagers is one thing, but the internet is a mysterious black hole of the unknown...or the knowing of too much? Ok I am just confusing myself, to simplify, my life in a nutshell....

Hi! My name is Ashley! I live on an island on the "West Side" of Canada. I visited L.A. recently so I now use any excuse to refer to my location as the "West Side".

This is a photo of me and my son Rocky. I chose this photo as gushing about Rocky will inevitably become a large portion of this blog. The main reason I chose this picture is because this is what I have always imagined people who blog to look like, not Rocky but myself in this picture. Frantic, always in a state of being startled due to high amounts of caffine and thick rimmed glasses. This picture actually played a part in me starting a blog. I saw it and thought "I look like a busy blogger", yes this is how I think, so I decided to take a stab at being one.

This is a more flattering picture of Rocky, what he looks like when he is not in attack mode. He is quite a dandy and who I enjoy spending the majority of my time with.

The time I am not spending with Rocky I hang out at this place called Mavens. Mavens is a vintage shop in downtown Victoria. I opened it in November of 2010 and I so excited that the 3 year mark will soon be approaching. I spend my days restoring vintage pieces, doing what I can to keep our heads above water which mainly means constantly sewing. Sewing basic alterations, sewing custom designs, sewing my own designs, sewing costumes for music videos, photo shoots, drag shows, films, you name it, I sew it and I love it.

Anyways, that is the brief description of my life. I have a way with words and using too many of them, so lets just leave it at that. In conclusion, the reason I want this blog is to just document my surroundings as time is flying by and I feel like I don't allow myself the time to let it all sink in. This blog will mainly focus on my work, the shop, things that inspire me, current projects and how they progress and probably some of Rocky's milestones and adorable moment cause like any parent, I am obsessed with my kid.