Discover Ash Cooper Kerns
Ash Cooper Kerns is a Los Angeles–based street, documentary, and portrait photographer whose work celebrates the brilliance of the everyday and the quiet complexities of human connection. With an eye for fleeting light, subtle humor, and the charged stillness of candid moments, she photographs the world as it unfolds — imperfect, beautiful, and alive. Explore the world through Ash's lens.
About Ash
Once a lawyer, now a photographer — because apparently, I like making sharp observations with less paperwork.
I’m Ash, a street, documentary, and portrait photographer based in Los Angeles. My first love was a Pentax K1000 film camera I picked up in 1994, back when we waited days to see our mistakes printed on glossy paper. Since then, I’ve wandered through law, nonprofit work, art direction, and tech — collecting stories, skills, and an eye for the unexpected.
From 2009 to 2018, chronic illness forced a long pause — a quiet chapter marked by pain, stillness, and iPhone photography. In the end of 2024, I returned to full photography with a Leica camera in hand, a sharpened instinct for wonder and a renewed commitment to capturing life as it unfolds — raw, mundane, ironic, and luminous.
Now, I chase fleeting moments and everyday magic — the subtle gestures, strange coincidences, and, yes, frequent awkward eye contact with strangers. What drives me is simple: seeing the world like it’s brand new, and capturing it before it, or I, disappear.
Street Photography
Candid exploration of the extraordinary moments found in ordinary days, with contradiction, tenderness, and tension often coexisting in the same frame.
A Day in the Life
Immersive portrayals of people in their daily work.
Documentary Photography
A visual narrative of protests, providing an unfiltered glimpse into the world's captivating stories when we use our voices to drive change.
Connect
with me.
Whether you are interested in collaborating on projects, photo walks, or sharing your thoughts on my work, feel free to reach out. Your ideas and inspirations are valued.