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NEW YORK San Francisco SANTA BARBARA LOS ANGELES OREGON MAUI
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BOUDOIR FOR EMPOWERMENT // BOUDOIR FOR HEALING

BOUDOIR FOR WARRIORS

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SESSION INFO

I believe we all have a story to tell. I am here to tell yours, to tell of the battles you have fought, of your scars and your triumphs and everything that has led you to become the fierce creature you are today. I am here to create an environment of trust and comfort that allows you to be vulnerable, and allows me to create a physical expression of YOUR inner strength.

I want you to feel seen, truly seen, for everything you are beneath your skin. 

FEATURED:

A NEW YORK STORY

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“I saw my strength in the photos afterward. Strength I guess I knew had been there for three long years, through three surgeries, three recoveries, and more tears than I could ever count. But I didn’t see it until she showed it to me. I didn’t see my strength and beauty until she helped me see it in myself.”
— Jen W.
 

EMPATH

FEMINIST

SHAMELESS ROMANTIC

GIRL ON FIRE

 
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Follow : @ashleykelemen

Insomnia causes insanity. • Ok, I don’t think that’s actually true but it’s sure as hell how I feel. I suffered from insomnia for years, starting with the decline of my marriage and ending a few months ago when we turned our bedroom into a sleep womb. Now I recognize that if I get less than 7 hours of sleep, I have a 100% probability of crying spontaneously that day. Fun times. • While creating our sleep sanctuary, I turned to @sandsnowlinen for the most amazing bedding that keeps Steve’s furnace body cool and my texture-obsessed self happy, while my ladies at @elsie_green + @studiomondine helped deck out the rest of the room (my friends are ✨✨✨). I wrote about all the changes we’ve made to our nighttime habits that have contributed to finally sleeping through the night like a functioning adult - check out the @etincelle.studio blog for my magic formula (link in profile) and let me know if there is something missing that works for you! #sleepismylife
actual things I thought to myself before sharing my story last week: -sharing too many photos of you will turn people off -nobody wants to read your sad story -you should be thinner before you start showing up here -who are you to represent anyone or tell their stories? -your photos aren’t good enough to represent the things you’re saying -nobody cares. • I sat with this discomfort for weeks prior to writing and posting all of this. Our minds are cruel in the face of fear, and mine can be exceptionally so. Years of choosing to feel unworthy take even longer to undo. • It was @hannah_gadsby who ultimately changed the way I thought about all of this: “I don’t tell you this so you think of me as a victim. I am not a victim. I tell you this because my story has value . . . What I would have done to have heard a story like mine.” • She reminded me that our stories are what connect us, and my ego and doubt are not significant enough to keep me from connecting with you. With humanity. So I am here, telling you the truth about my hangups, and I’m here to tell them to fuck off. We’ve got too much work to do 🖕🏻
Part Six: Purpose • Ultimately, what came from all of this, my reason for finally sharing this story, is the discovery of what I’m here to do. My purpose, as an artist and as a human. And that purpose, as it turns out, is women. It is to tell the stories of warriors. To empower the artists to take up space in the business world. To represent more body types and skin colors so that more of us feel represented in the world. To share my experiences so that others can feel less alone. It was women who changed my life and shaped me into who I am today, and it’s time I pass on all that love. • I am here to help women feel SEEN. • I’ve spent seven beautiful years building and running a successful wedding business. I’ve loved every minute with every couple, documenting their stories and sharing in a special time in their lives. I’ve been lucky enough to work with incredible vendor teams who have shown me love and support beyond what I could have imagined when I started down this road. Photos that I’ve taken will hang on family walls and pass down to future generations as part of their history. What an incredible gift it is, to create art that will last lifetimes. For these opportunities, I am endlessly grateful. • Telling love stories has been a beautiful chapter in my life, but it is time for what comes next. This will be my final season shooting weddings. Going forward, this space will be full of love, of empowerment and shared experiences, of beauty and adventure, boudoir and portraiture, and a lot more of my real life. I hope you’ll be here for it. It’s scary to walk away from such a huge part of my business, but, as I hope you’ve learned from this story over the last several days, fear is something I just don’t have time for anymore. x Ash
Part Five: Being A Mother Fucking Badass • A pretty amazing thing happened when I emerged from the darkness: I started to feel alive again. Not just alive, but ON FIRE alive. My creativity started pumping, and suddenly I believed in my ability to succeed and thrive and actually offer something to the world. After years of hiding from everyone and fearing the worst, I finally took action. • It was during this emotionally and energetically fueled period that @etincelle.studio was born. I had the idea for a creative studio focused entirely on supporting the fire that lives within women, especially those of us who have truly survived something in our lives, and found a way to heal and thrive in the aftermath. • Étincelle is French for “spark” and it exists to fuel the spark within us. As this aspect of my business grows, I see unlimited possibilities to expand the team (a graphic designer! social media consulting! a new position I have yet to make up!) in order to meet a greater need for my clients. For the time being, it is serving elevated imagery to a number of small businesses run by women working to change the world. • The fact that I am standing where I am, walking a new creative path and enthusiastically facing the future when three years ago I could barely picture my life a week ahead is something that makes me so proud, words can’t really express it. Whatever you’re facing, I promise there is life on the other side of it, life that will make you feel powerful, bold and like a total badass. Keep at it. There is so much to look forward to 🔥
Part Four: Love • This is not a story about finding a man. It’s a story about finding myself. But I would be doing him a disservice if I didn’t fully acknowledge the ways that this love has aided in that journey. • Steve and I met when we were both spectacularly broken, afraid to trust, and had little faith in love. I doubted him every step of the way thanks to the emotional destruction of those who had walked before him. I made it easy for him to doubt himself, and he did what scared people do: he fucked it up. What is different about this story is that I stood up and walked away. What is different about this story is that everything changed because I finally recognized my own worth and what I deserved from a partner. What is different is that he showed up again and promised to be everything I deserved. That he actually followed through on that promise. • It hasn’t been pretty every step of the way, but learning to trust him has helped me trust myself, and letting myself love him has helped me to better love myself. This path has made us both better humans, and better at being together. I’m grateful for all the battles because they forced us to do the work on ourselves that was so desperately needed, and that work was worth the beautiful, ever-evolving love we are lucky enough to live with now. • Plus, he’s super hot.