Ashley Joanna Photography, Sankt-Vith (2026)

08/06/2024

Photographed for brewery for their ‘Cereal Project’ - This project is about the local farmers who
provide 3 Fonteinen with the grains and fruit to brew their beer. Big thanks to .art for being my assistant.

20/05/2024

Happy to say I’m back in the states for the entire summer!

New Jersey, NYC friends and anyone else, if you’re interested in booking a shoot with me the next few months please let me know!!

Available and open for portraits, branding/business, weddings, engagement, families, music, and any other idea you might have in mind. All are welcome!!

Please write below or send me a message if interested 🌿

16/03/2024

Getting down to the finish line.. 6 months until our book, Hidden Beers of Belgium, is released!! Written by Breandán Kearney and photography by me. Published by 📚🍺

14/02/2024

Sarkis Bas - The Martial Artist

"In East Belgium, especially Eupen, there are many martial arts clubs... you don't have to go very far to find the right one for you."

Sarkis Bas’s martial arts journey began at the age of 14 when he joined the Taekwondo club “Hankook Eupen”. He dedicated 11 years to Taekwondo, a Korean martial art that includes competitive sparring and places a significant emphasis on kicking techniques. He achieved the rank of 2nd Dan (2nd black belt). During this time, he also explored other martial arts like Israeli martial art Krav Maga and Korean sword martial art Haedong Gumdo to further develop his skills. As the years went by, he took on the role of assistant instructor in the club, teaching and guiding fellow students.

In 2015, Sarkis ventured into the art of Wing Tzun, a Chinese martial art that does not involve competitive tournaments. It focuses on close-quarters combat, emphasizing rapid strikes, trapping, and redirecting an opponent's force. It is primarily a self-defense martial art. He decided to leave Taekwondo and he joined the “Remac Europe Association”, an organization that not only teaches martial arts but also serves as a training ground for individuals to learn how to open their own schools and become self-employed. He trained extensively, sometimes up to five days a week, and he soon became an instructor for Wing Tzun and Escrima, the national martial art of the Philippines. Since 2022, he has been running the martial arts school VoG in Eupen, where he imparts his knowledge and skills in these martial arts to others.

For Sarkis, martial arts is not just a physical activity; it's a way to relieve stress, both mentally and physically. It has become an integral part of his life, boosting his self-confidence and social skills. What he values most is the opportunity to channel aggression constructively during training. He can spar with partners and, at the end, share a handshake. In martial arts, respect is paramount, and Sarkis appreciates the camaraderie that comes with it.

Sarkis Bas

25/01/2024

Fabrice Müllender - The Heraldist

“I always wanted to know what has been before me.”

When Fabrice Müllender was younger, he didn't know much about his family. He asked his parents and other family members where they came from, but no one had a satisfactory answer. "Where did I come from?" wondered Fabrice. "Where is my family from? Where are my roots?"

When he was 17 years old, Fabrice began to rummage through old records. Among other places, he visited the State Archives in Liège and found important information about his family, such as names and dates of births, deaths and marriages. With this information, he was able to connect the dots in his family tree, which dates back to 1635. He reached out to people he was related to in that family tree, even if they didn't know each other. Most of them were happy to meet him. He asked for old photos and gathered a lot of information. Fabrice thought it was a shame not to share his research with others, so at the age of 24 he wrote his first book about his family.

Fabrice didn't stop there. He found even more family members with the same last name. He became obsessed with heraldry, the science and art of the use, display, and regulation of hereditary symbols. He researched “blazons”: coats of arms, flags or emblems which act as family symbols. His home was filled with boxes of old photographs, passports, and letters. When he was 30, he published a second book about his family history.

But Fabrice had never seen a blazon for his own family. So, he decided to create one. In 1996, he registered his family's symbol with the appropriate office in Belgium; one which showed the meaning of their name, what jobs family members had engaged in over the years, and where their family had come from.

Fabrice even wrote a short book about the symbols used in the German-speaking community. After that, people started asking him questions about their family history. So, he began helping others with their family research.

Today, Fabrice goes to heraldry conferences all around the world. It's a unique hobby, and he really enjoys talking to others who share his passion. You can see heraldry almost everywhere you look: in public places, in books, on flags, and on windows. For Fabrice, it says something about family legacies, about national history, and about who we are as people.

Ostbelgien-Info

22/01/2024

Movement. From a project I photographed for Elena Gillessen about the movement of dance and how it makes people feel. Thanks Mayra for participating.

More photos from this project to come.

21/01/2024

Sandro Dudenhausen - The Stonemason

“Every stone tells a story.”

Sandro Dudenhausen, originally from Germany, worked in a tourism agency in Portugal when he was 18. For two years, he spent most of his days doing this in an office. This experience taught him that he didn't want a job where he sat inside all day. He wanted to work with his hands and create something.

At the age of 20, he returned to Germany and trained as a stonemason near Aachen. In 1997, he settled in nearby eastern Belgium, where he and his friends, then still using mountain bike maps, set out on unique journeys to explore areas of exposed stone from which they could make something.

Seeing the places where the stones came from on those hikes deepened his connection to the art of stone carving. "Every piece of natural stone is a product of a specific time and place," Sandro says. "It's a piece of earth history."

In 2006, Sandro founded his own company, Monolithique, in eastern Belgium. As a master stonemason and sculptor, he specializes in working with stone for gardens, always emphasizing the inherent beauty, diversity and uniqueness of natural stone. Since 2001, he has shown his work in various exhibitions throughout Europe, leaving a lasting impression on exhibition visitors with his remarkable creations.

Ostbelgien-Info

17/01/2024

Céline Küpper - The Horse Trainer

“Horses are a deep passion of mine that keep me grounded in nature. Being with them is about personal growth, living in the moment, and following intuition.”

Céline Küpper runs la Vida horse farm with her husband Karl. At the farm, the couple uses horses in projects for children and young people. It's not so much about riding as it is about getting in touch with the horses and learning a mindful way to interact with these animals.

Céline has lived with horses for as long as she can remember. Her affection for horses was awakened by her grandfather, now deceased, who introduced her to the art of grooming and riding and gave her a deep connection to these beautiful animals. Her grandfather ran a small hobby horse farm. One of her grandfather's horses, Daisy, still lives at la Vida horse farm, preserving the memory of him and Céline's connection to him.

She is a trained riding educator, certified horse coach and works under the guidelines of organizations such as Equimotion and Horsesense.

The farm offers holistic learning experiences that address body, mind and spirit. The horses help people find balance, self-confidence and connection with nature. Céline believes they can teach us important life lessons such as patience, mindfulness, responsibility and living in the moment.

Together with the horses, Céline accompanies people through personal crises, difficult times and processes of change in their lives. Those who come to the farm often hope to reorient themselves or develop personally. Equine-assisted stress management helps people create a healthy work-life balance.

Ostbelgien-Info Céline Küpper Pferdehof la Vida

16/01/2024

Simon Krings - The Hunter

“It is a feeling of satisfaction and balance; to enjoy the silence and the closeness to nature and to be able to observe the game in peace.”

Simon Krings’ grandfather and father would take him into the forest on hunting trips when he was young and teach him about nature and animals.

Hunting was important, he learned, because it contributes to wildlife population management. “If the animals multiply too much, the habitat will be too small for the animals,” he says. His family taught him that hunting helps balance the ecosystem by managing and monitoring predator and prey species, making it more sustainable. The meat from these animals is also obtained in a more biologically sustainable manner than large-scale livestock farming.

As he grew older, he continued to immerse himself in hunting, eventually obtaining his hunting license at the age of 20. With a licence, he could actively participate in the hunt. Today, he enjoys the close connection to nature and wildlife and the hands-on work he does in the forest such as constructing elevated platforms or caring for animals during winter. He also cherishes the shared moments with friends who share the same hunting interests and the thrill of encountering new experiences.

For Simon, hunting offers a chance to appreciate nature, observe wildlife, work with hunting dogs, and bond with fellow hunters. He hunts with what he calls “a smiling eye and a crying eye.” “I hunt with a crying eye because I know that I have just killed an animal and taken it from nature,” he says. “And I hunt with a smiling eye because I know that I am helping to maintain the balance between the forest and the animals, that I will get the best meat, and that the animal lived freely until the last minute.”

In East Belgium, hunting is a long-standing cultural tradition. Hunters like Simon Krings are working to preserve this heritage and make animal ecosystems here more sustainable.

Ostbelgien-Info ArsVitha Simon Krings

13/01/2024

an afternoon with ⚡️

31/12/2023

Manuel Hilgers - The Ultra Runner

“There is no greater sense of satisfaction than defining a personal goal and conquering it.”

Even under the darkness of night, teenage Manuel Hilgers would run 20km after hanging out at his friend's house back to his own home. He found peace in the solitude, surrounded by the forest, the path before him bathed in moonlight.

“My friends would tease me by saying “Loof doch heem” (“Just run home, man”).

When he was younger, Manuel played football and would run for fun in between his football training sessions. When he stopped playing football, he kept running. Soon he was participating in races.

Manuel raced the Grand Trail des Lacs et châteaux, a race in Belgium of164 km with a 6,700 meters elevation. He raced Another One Bites the Dust, a 128 km backyard race in Belgium with 20 rounds. And he raced the Schinder-Trail Backyard Ultra 2020, a grueling 102.5 km race that takes place in Germany.
He’s already training for his next adventure: running 250 km through the desert of Jordan as part of the 20 Year Race.

For Manuel, running is being in nature. It’s doing something he truly enjoys. It’s constantly challenging himself. He also sees it as witnessing first-hand the remarkable capabilities of the human body. You’re pushing yourself to new limits, the risk of failure always lurking in the background.

During his runs, Manuel experiences rare moments of complete disconnection from the world. He finds himself not thinking, not observing, and totally undisturbed by external factors—just running.

31/12/2023

Manuel Hilgers - The Ultra Runner

“There is no greater sense of satisfaction than defining a personal goal and conquering it.”

Even under the darkness of night, teenage Manuel Hilgers would run 20km after hanging out at his friend's house back to his own home. He found peace in the solitude, surrounded by the forest, the path before him bathed in moonlight.

“My friends would tease me by saying “Loof doch heem” (“Just run home, man”).

When he was younger, Manuel played football and would run for fun in between his football training sessions. When he stopped playing football, he kept running. Soon he was participating in races.

Manuel raced the Grand Trail des Lacs et châteaux, a race in Belgium of164 km with a 6,700 meters elevation. He raced Another One Bites the Dust, a 128 km backyard race in Belgium with 20 rounds. And he raced the Schinder-Trail Backyard Ultra 2020, a grueling 102.5 km race that takes place in Germany.
He’s already training for his next adventure: running 250 km through the desert of Jordan as part of the 20 Year Race.

For Manuel, running is being in nature. It’s doing something he truly enjoys. It’s constantly challenging himself. He also sees it as witnessing first-hand the remarkable capabilities of the human body. You’re pushing yourself to new limits, the risk of failure always lurking in the background.

During his runs, Manuel experiences rare moments of complete disconnection from the world. He finds himself not thinking, not observing, and totally undisturbed by external factors—just running.

Ostbelgien-Info

Ashley Joanna Photography

08/06/2024

20/05/2024

16/03/2024

14/02/2024

25/01/2024

22/01/2024

21/01/2024

17/01/2024

16/01/2024

13/01/2024

31/12/2023

31/12/2023

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