08/31/2026
hi, i’m ashley; the woman behind the lens at divine essence studios. it’s been AWHILE since i’ve done an introduction post & i think the most important thing i could tell you about me has very little to do with photography.
i know what it feels like to look around at a life you’re incredibly grateful for… and still wonder where YOU went in the middle of it. to become so good at being needed that you don’t realize how long it’s been since you asked yourself what you need.
to be a mom. a wife. the responsible one. the strong one. the one who figures it out… and somewhere underneath all of those versions of you, still want to feel like yourself again.
that’s a huge part of why divine essence exists & why bo***ir became so much more to me than something i photograph. because this camera has given me a front row seat to people seeing pieces of themselves they forgot were still there.
i’ve watched women who have spent years taking care of everyone else walk through my door carrying changed bodies, changed lives, things they’ve survived, lost & rebuilt… and then get to see themselves outside of everything they carry for a minute. not fixed. not transformed. not suddenly cured of every insecurity. just… there. still worthy of taking up space. still allowed to choose themselves. still deserving of being seen.
and maybe that hits me so deeply because i’m living it, too. i’m still becoming. still unlearning. still figuring out what belongs to me & what i carried because i thought i was supposed to. so when you walk into my space, you’re not walking into a room with someone who has confidence all figured out.
you’re walking into a room with someone who understands.
and i think that matters when you’re deciding who gets to stand behind the lens. 🫶🏼
