From Pursuit to Passion to Profession

A Derbyshire man through and through, notably from Milford in the Derwent Valley and a member of the Derby Camera Club for over 42 years. His career took him to BBC Radio Derby until 2002, but in the background he was honing his skills as an amateur photographer and particularly photo art pictures and with the arrival of digital, took the plunge to make a living  from photography.

He presented his early images of both his family and also landscapes, often entered into club competitions, all the time gaining experience and recognition, but also an ‘eye’ for what he wanted to  interpret within his images. Many trips were taken to Tuscany, initially with family, but latterly for the wonderful landscapes known by so  many, inspired by the photographer Fontana and his minimalist landscape images of this destination. This eventually led to him launching his own website, a steep learning curve, but ultimately through various contacts over the years, providing a wider genre of photography – these Ashley amply presented showcasing a diverse range of images, some the many towns within Derbyshire – as designated photographer for Derbyshire Life magazine, weddings – too stressful! – and eventually leading to his being official photographer for the Derby Cathedral Quarter. This gave him the opportunity to photograph royalty – a much prized ambition for him.

Along the way, he began to convert to Black & White imagery, understanding that in some of his photographs that this genre gave more ‘grit’ and atmosphere to an otherwise busy colourful shot. Through his talk he referred to the various businesses where he had provided many framed photographs and anecdotally, realised they had ceased trading shortly thereafter – honestly it was not his fault!

The spectrum of Ashey’s photographs provided an insight to his journey in becoming a professional photographer, from rough sleepers, landscapes, the people and businesses of the many towns within Derby, to Royalty and finally to running his successful workshops based in Tuscany – what’s not to like!

Thank you for an interesting evening and all your wonderful images depicting your photographic journey.

Janine Scola