Ransom Ashley (born 1992) is an American photographer and actor. His photography is noted for its themes relating to identity and coming of age in Louisiana.

Early life and education

Ransom Ashley was born and raised in

Shreveport, LA Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is ...

, Ransom attended

C. E. Byrd High School C. E. Byrd, a Blue Ribbon School, is a high school in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States. In continuous operation since its establishment in 1925, C. E. Byrd is also the eighth-largest high school in the United States of America as of Februa ...

and Calvary Baptist Academy. After high school, Ashley went on to attend

Parsons The New School for Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...

. He also attended

Louisiana State University in Shreveport Louisiana State University Shreveport (LSU Shreveport or LSUS) is a public university in Shreveport, Louisiana. It is part of the Louisiana State University System. Initially, a two-year college, LSUS has expanded into a university with 21 ...

and is a member of the

Psi Chi Psi Chi () is a college student honor society in psychology with international outreach founded in 1929 at the University of Kansas in the United States. Psi Chi is one of the largest honor societies in the United States, with more than 1,150 cha ...

International Honor Society of Psychology.

Career

Photography

Ashley has shown work in several international exhibitions. He has been featured in exhibitions at the

New Britain Museum of American Art The New Britain Museum of American Art is an art museum in New Britain, Connecticut. Founded in 1903, it is the first museum in the country dedicated to American art. A total of 72,000 visits were made to the museum in the year ending June 30, 20 ...

Fort Wayne Museum of Art The Fort Wayne Museum of Art (FWMoA) is an American art museum located in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana, Allen County, United States. The Fort Wayne Museum of Art contains permanent collections and national traveling exhibitions and is accredite ...

, and

Masur Museum of Art The Masur Museum of Art in Monroe, Louisiana in the United States, is the largest visual arts museum in northeast Louisiana. It is in the former home of the Masur family, the Masur House, also known as the Slagle-Masur House, which is listed on t ...

, among others. In 2013,

Whitney Museum of Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), ...

curator,

Elisabeth Sussman Elisabeth Sussman is an American art curator. She currently works at the Sondra Gilman Curator of Photography at the Whitney Museum of American Art. In 2013 she was awarded the Audrey Irmas Award for Curatorial Excellence from The Center for Curato ...

, chose his work for a juried exhibition in New York City. The

invited him to participate in their "The National: Best Contemporary Photography 2014" exhibition. In late 2014, Ashley was chosen by Gemma Padley of the

British Journal of Photography The ''British Journal of Photography'' (BJP) is a magazine about photography, published by 1854 Media. It includes in-depth articles, profiles of photographers, analyses, and technological reviews. History The magazine was established in Liverpo ...

as one of 20 artists to be part of an international exhibition at One Eyed Jacks in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

. Ashley draws most of his inspiration from films and music. Regarding his series ''"Virgins"'', Ashley was inspired by

Richard Linklater Richard Stuart Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for films that revolve mainly around suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies '' ...

films. According to

Dazed ''Dazed'' (''Dazed & Confused'' until February 2014) is a bi-monthly British style magazine founded in 1991. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. Dazed is published by Dazed Media, an independent media group known for producing ...

and

Teen Vogue ''Teen Vogue'' is an American online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'', targeted at teenagers. Like ''Vogue'', it included stories about fashion and celebrities. Since ...

, the photographer's work pays homage to his Louisiana roots and upbringing. His current project includes owning and operating marketing firm, Son of Rand and its online retail store Son of Rand Shop.

Acting

Ashley's first professional film credit was on

Shark Night 3D ''Shark Night'' (advertised as ''Shark Night 3D'') is a 2011 American horror film directed by David R. Ellis and written by Will Hayes and Jesse Studenberg. It stars Sara Paxton, Chris Carmack, Katharine McPhee, Alyssa Diaz, Dustin Milligan, an ...

where he worked as a stand-in/photo double. He later went on to star in his first film, ''Better Angels'', directed by Clint McCommon. This gave way to more acting credits for Ashley, including a Louisiana Film Prize official selection, ''The Curators'', where he portrays an ex high school baseball standout whose life has spiraled out of control. ''The Curators'' went on to receive distribution through ShortsHD and aired on

ShortsTV ShortsTV is a worldwide network dedicated to short films. ShortsTV has over 13,000 titles in its catalog and has been a presenter of the Oscar Nominated Short Film releases since 2006. The channel is available in over 100 million homes across th ...

as an Editors Pick. More recently, he was cast alongside Jonathan Bennett and

Jordy Lucas Summer Hoyland is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours'', played by Jordy Lucas. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 20 May 2002. The character was originally played by Marisa Siketa f ...

in ''The Out and Out's'', directed by Travis Champagne. He was also cast in '' I Saw the Light'', the

Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

biopic starring

Tom Hiddleston Thomas William Hiddleston (born 9 February 1981) is an English actor. He gained international fame portraying Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), starting with ''Thor'' in 2011 and most recently in the Disney+ series ''Loki'' in 2021 ...

, and in ''Jackdaw'', a Louisiana Film Prize Award Winning drama that

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

heralded an "ever-building slow burn". Ashley appeared as "Walker", the son of

Holly Hunter Holly Patricia Hunter (born March 20, 1958) is an American actress. For her performance as Ada McGrath in the 1993 drama film ''The Piano'', Hunter won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She earned three additional Academy Award nominations for ...

's character, in the 2016 film '' Strange Weather''.

Personal and family life

Ashley comes from a family with a notable legal and political heritage. His great grandfather, Wellborn Jack Sr., was a distinguished member of the Louisiana House of Representatives and a respected attorney. His grandfather, Wellborn Jack Jr., furthered this legacy as a renowned trial lawyer. Wellborn Jr. was celebrated as one of America's top trial lawyers and presented the first successful defense based on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), marking a significant milestone in legal history.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashley, Ransom 1992 births Living people People from Shreveport, Louisiana Louisiana State University Shreveport alumni American photographers American male actors