My transition from working in the film industry to pursuing a full-time photography career

After pursuing a career in film for several years, I’ve decided to let it go and take control of my creativity by starting my photography business. But why? Why would I give that up after achieving what was, at one point in time, my dream job?

A Vision of Success

Before leaving the nest and beginning our adult lives in the “real world”, we often have a pretty generic visual of success. Many of us imagine living in big cities with endless possibilities, climbing our way up the corporate ladder and using our earnings on fancy homes and designer clothes. Through the media, we are constantly shown that luxury = success.

So, when asked at 17-years-old what I wanted to do with my life, you can imagine that being a “starving artist” wasn’t at the top of my list. I knew I wanted to pursue a creative career, but I also wanted to embody the “successful” women I’ve seen in films like “Legally Blonde” or “The Devil Wears Prada” (y’know, the unrealistic ones). I wanted nothing more than to be a girl boss, and I believed that being an artist would keep me from becoming that.

The Allure of Film

Another misconception I’ve had is of the very thing I ended up pursuing—film. When I brainstormed ideas for career paths I could take, film was one of the first industries that came to mind. Not only was it creative, but it was also, from my skewed perspective, a glamorous industry to be involved in. I could be the successful female protagonist I’ve always wanted to be.

Throughout my teenage years, I’ve explored several creative mediums, including painting, photography, and amateur filmmaking. Somewhere in that brainstorming process, I came to the conclusion that visual effects was the perfect blend of all of those mediums I enjoyed. While that isn’t necessarily untrue, it ended up being far more technical than I anticipated. I spent more time troubleshooting technical issues than I did expressing my creativity, and I considered changing my major multiple times throughout my college years because of it. However, I stuck with it because I believed that my perspective would change once I began working on bigger, more exciting projects.

2020

Like many others, 2020 changed my life in more ways than one. Not only did I finally graduate and earn my bachelor’s degree, but I did so during one of the scariest events in my lifetime. I never thought we’d live through a pandemic, and when we did, I was completely alone in my Brooklyn apartment, isolated from all of my friends and family. New York felt post-apocalyptic, and the sounds of riots pushed me further into the comfort of my little home. While I know things could always be worse, I had never been so scared before then. That whole experience led to me becoming paranoid and fearful of several things, mainly the outside world. It became more apparent to me how fragile life is, and how quickly it can change.

From then on, I promised myself that I would always try my best to pursue whatever gave me joy. In 2020, I still believed that to be film, so I landed a job within the industry once production resumed. Over the next three years, I had the opportunity to work on projects like American Horror Story, The Good Doctor, Barbie, Mean Girls (2024), and so much more. Being involved in shows I watched as a teenager and remakes of iconic movies from my childhood was a surreal experience that I’m so grateful to have had. It was always so satisfying seeing my work on tv and having a behind the scenes look at projects several months before it’s released to the public. It was a dream come true from an outsider’s perspective, but that fleeting satisfaction was the only warm and fuzzy feeling the film industry gave me. It came to a point where that feeling was no longer worth all the stress and anxiety it cost me on a daily basis.

Beginning my Creative Journey

Without getting into the nitty gritty of working in the film industry, I will simply say that it is not for the faint of heart. I know there are other positions within the industry that are much more fun and expressive; positions that I would probably enjoy. But being a part of one of the most undervalued and underappreciated phases of the filmmaking process left a bad taste in my mouth and pushed me away from the industry entirely. I had started feeling disinterested in my job over a year before I lost it, and it was then that I began building the foundation of my art business.

I spent my early mornings before work in the corner of my bedroom, drawing, oil painting, and conjuring up new ideas for how I could transform my art into a full-time career. The majority of my free time was dedicated to learning and skill building, studying social media algorithms and completing timed painting sessions to improve my speed. As I had gotten married around this time, I was committed to the idea of creating fantasy inspired portraits of couples, particularly wedding portraits. But I knew that if I wanted to be a full-time artist, I had to learn to capture love in a way that stood out among hundreds of other artists.

Leaving Film Behind

Despite my plans to build my business and become a full-time artist, I had no intention of leaving my job anytime soon. At the end of the day, I had bills to pay, and finding success in my business was going to take time. As much as I wanted to put my all into my art, I knew it had to wait. 2023, however, had other plans for me.

Whether you have any involvement in the film industry or not, you are likely familiar with the Writers Guild of America strike that occurred in 2023, and the SAG-AFTRA strike that began shortly after that. These strikes led to a significant shortage of work within the industry, which ultimately went into effect at my studio by October of 2023. I was on furlough for six months until I was officially laid off six months later in April.

Naturally, I spent the following couple of months looking for work within entertainment, hoping to find something that could easily replace what I had lost. But hundreds if not thousands of people working within the film industry were doing the same exact thing, and there simply was not enough work to go around. I went through a frustrating period of spending hours on job applications just to receive no responses, or rejections. My efforts felt like a huge waste of time.

Committing to my Art

As several weeks passed and I wasn’t any closer to finding a new job, I decided to focus instead on the only thing that was bringing in some sort of income—my art. I definitely wasn’t making enough to live off of; not even close. But something was better than nothing, and clearly my efforts towards getting a more stable job weren’t working. I thought my time would prove to be more fruitful if I instead spent my time focusing on growing my business. While I made significant progress in building its foundation, it still wasn’t close to being enough. My art process took too much time, I was running out of money, and there simply just wasn’t enough interest in my work. So, I had to revisit the job applications.

Getting a Job and Adapting

With several new businesses opening nearby, I was finally able to land a job working at a restaurant. While it wasn’t what I was looking for originally, I was super grateful to have found something that would give me some level of financial stability. But not only was getting a job good for my income, but it also gave me space to reflect on my business and what was and wasn’t working.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past several months, it’s that adapting is a very important element of starting and running a creative business. When we are so set on what we want to do and accomplish, it can be difficult to come to terms with the fact that it may not be working out. In my situation with my art business, I realized that the main issue was time. My painting process took too much time, and I realistically would not be able to make a consistent income from it. Additionally, if I didn’t regularly have new work to show, I wouldn’t have new work to promote or post on social media. Overall, I knew my business wasn’t moving forward at the rate that I needed it to and something was going to have to change for it to work.

Returning to Photography

As the days flew by working at the restaurant, I constantly thought long and hard about what my next creative endeavor would be. I definitely didn’t want to give up my business, especially after all the work I had put into it. So, it was important to me to find a new path that was stable, creative, and still allowed me to pursue my art to some degree.

I came across a Facebook post one day of a local family looking for a photographer to capture their son’s birthday. They didn’t really have a budget for one, so they were specifically looking for a beginner photographer that was looking to build their portfolio. Upon reading that post, I thought to myself “I could do that!”. If it hadn’t been my brother’s birthday, I would’ve. But even just seeing that post got my wheels turning.

I was reminded of all of the moments within the past few years that I subconsciously studied and admired other photographer’s work, and had a hidden desire to create something of my own. The hours I’d spend in the darkroom at my college, developing film and examining the candid photos I took of New Yorkers in the streets. I thought of the nights I had with my friends who were photography majors; the nights we would walk aimlessly around Manhattan and have spontaneous photoshoots on rooftops. I remembered being fourteen, taking self-portraits with a tripod and my mom’s Canon Rebel T3i, and using the internet to teach myself how to edit them.

I had not once considered becoming a professional photographer. Despite how often I’d used the skill and how much time I’d willingly devote to improving, it never crossed my mind. Perhaps I never thought about it because it simply didn’t feel like work. Photography is just something I’ve always done. Everything else in my life that I’ve tried pursuing—even things I love—has overwhelmed me considerably at some point. Some skills just never came to me naturally, and took a lot of mental energy for me to be somewhat good at. Other skills, like painting, overwhelm me because I care about being good at them so much that I’m almost scared to keep trying because I don’t want to fail. Photography has always been a perfect balance between being challenging and easy; embracing creativity while still being technical enough to keep me grounded. Capturing life’s most precious and fleeting moments comforts me, and is a constant reminder that the most extraordinary beauty exists in the most ordinary of places. Photography is more than just creating art for me; it’s building special relationships and sharing stories; showing people how naturally beautiful they are and how magical their love is. It’s taking the time to observe others, so I can take the time to observe and appreciate my own life and the ones I hold closest to my heart.

Revisiting photography has felt like a full circle moment for me; like I’m uncovering my passion for film that’s been buried underneath the technical and anxiety-inducing parts of working in the industry. I’ve been reminded of why I wanted to be involved in filmmaking in the first place—to tell stories and share life’s beauty. Now, I get to do so through my photos.

Living my Best Life

At the time of writing this blog post, I’m only a few months into my new creative endeavor. I still work at the restaurant, and spend my evenings after work painting, editing, or learning. I’ve had at least one booking each month since I’ve started, and I only hope that number grows throughout the new year.

As I’ve worked through this transitional period in my life, I’ve realized how much I’ve grown as both an artist and a person living life for the first time. When I think of success, I no longer think of having a penthouse overlooking Central Park or a fancy Art Director job at some company. I think of having the freedom to create without worrying about time or finances. The freedom to spend quality time with my loved ones, and visit corners of the world I’ve never seen before. I’ve learned that how we view success should not be driven by what we think others want or expect of us; it should be driven by whatever gives us genuine happiness and fulfillment.

I’ve never been more excited for what the future holds, and for the incredible people and places I expect to discover along the way. Whether you’ve been following my journey over the last year or you’ve just found me through this blog post, I am so grateful that you’ve taken the time to read about my experience. I’ll always be updating my website and social media with my latest work, so I welcome you to keep an eye on those if you’re interested in following my progress. I’d be so happy to have you along for the ride.

As always, thank you for your support. I’m wishing you all the best for this upcoming year, and all the years after that. 🤍

-Ashton

About Me

I’m Ashton—a photographer dedicated to capturing the magic and beauty of love through photographs reminiscent of stills from a film.

Ready to tell your story?