Moment: Ransom Ashley

©Ransom Ashley

Text and image by Ransom Ashley

My work, and in particular my body of work entitled ‘Virgins’, is a personal exploration of human psychology, identity, and my coming of age in the American South. My photography became a therapeutic vessel for me to make sense of the feelings that characterized my time at my Baptist church where I also attended middle and high school. I often use my friends as subjects, not simply out of necessity or proximity, but because they intimately understand who I am and often share many of the same experiences. Oblivion (Elise) is an image that came to me during one of our routine talks on my roof - a place I would often escape to for some peace and self-reflection. One day, while peering down off of my third story roof, I imagined that I had a birds eye view into an alternate reality: one where just like the life I was living, virtues like beauty and innocence couldn’t survive. This image, with all of its ambiguity, represents much of the confliction, desperation, and isolation that characterized those years for me.

To view more of Ransom’s work, visit their website or instagram.