STAYING IN
July 5th, 2020
Photos by Ashley Armitage · Words by Anna White
Though taken between 2017 and 2020, this series by Ashley Armitage feels like it could have been shot during quarantine. The 35mm and 120mm images are situated in bedrooms and bathrooms, occupying a domesticity familiar to the past few months of stay-at-home stasis.
Ashley's photos capture a soft femininity that calls to mind the casual intimacy of sleepovers in teenage bedrooms, those same adolescent rooms many of us have returned to temporarily due to COVID. These images feel like scenes from a lazy day at home with friends or roommates, showing these spaces as romantic and empowering rather than claustrophobic.
Ashley Armitage takes pictures of her friends, of real people with real attainable body types, skin tones, and genders with the intent of dismantling beauty standards. She continues to redefine beauty standards and encourage body positivity through her commercial work and was approached by beauty brand Billie to direct the first female razor ad showing body hair. She has since gone on to direct campaigns for high profile fashion and beauty brands.
