Meet Ashley Seryn

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Seryn.

Ashley, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I got into photography in high school, borrowing my dad’s camera for shoots with friends or just taking pictures on my iPhone. When I moved up from Orange County for my first year at UCLA, I started doing test shoots with agencies and publications, meeting other photographers, and working with creative teams. I think that’s when my “hobby” seemed more like a viable career – I knew that I wanted to pursue this at least part-time. During college, I did a lot of feature shoots, concerts, clothing brands, and more; I loved being able to work with such passionate and inspiring people. Now that I’m graduating and starting my grad program at USC Annenberg, I want to focus on select client work and creative projects that are special to me.

Has it been a smooth road?
No! It’s been hard juggling UCLA and photography. I feel like I wasn’t a part of campus culture since I was doing all these shoots off campus and building my network there. As a younger Asian American female, especially when I first started shooting, it was hard for me to be assertive on set with older, more experienced teams. Clients would also expect unpaid work, which was really discouraging at first and still is now – your work doesn’t feel valued. And then there’s always the whole Instagram game and constantly comparing yourself to the huge amount of talent out there.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Ashley Seryn Photography story. Tell us more about the business.
I think I view myself more as a person than a business, but my work focuses mainly on portrait photography. I also do fashion photography, concerts, events, video work, and more. I love shooting on film, so I’ve been gravitating towards that a lot more lately (most of my recent posts are film). I think that my style brands myself as opposed to the type of photos I shoot – my portfolio is pretty diverse while still keeping my visual style and inspirations. My style has evolved and is still changing, so it really reflects the “me” at the time.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
It’s really hard to tell. There’s so much saturation on Instagram now, people constantly enter and go out of relevance, photos go unseen in all the branded content. Essentially anyone can be a photographer, and the “requirements” have changed. I think there’s going to be a trend towards the radical, styles that are really unconventional and refreshing. I don’t think Instagram will become obsolete like some people predict anytime soon, but it will definitely change.

Contact Info:

• Website: ashleyseryn.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: instagram.com/ashleyseryn

Image Credit:
Alexa Losey for Mad Sounds, Between Friends, lighting by Randy Tindage, Ioannes SS19 at Lafayette Anticipations, RUSSO for Local Wolves, styled by Katie Qian, Yuna for Pulse Spikes, Amanda Steele x Are You Am I, Lexi B – newMARK Models

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