Ainsley DS Photography

17/06/2026

This one goes out to you

Nature is diverse and so is gender.

Get over it x

16/06/2026

📷 PARTICIPANTS WANTED for an endometriosis photography project.

I’m looking for North Island-based trans men and women aged 50+ living with endometriosis to be part of Now You See Me, an empowerment photography project sharing the diverse faces and stories of endometriosis.

Portrait sessions will take place in late July.

No modelling experience is needed, just a willingness to be seen.
If you’re interested in taking part or would like to learn more, please send me a DM. I’d love to hear from you. 💛

Find out more here or check the link in my bio 🩷https://www.ainsleydscreative.com/endo-empowerment-project

16/06/2026

15/06/2026

For a long time, chronic illness made me feel completely disconnected from my body.

Years of pain, surgeries, exhaustion, and huge changes to my body meant that when I looked in the mirror, I often didn’t recognise the person looking back. I stopped seeing my body as the thing that had carried me through so much and only saw it through the lens of everything that hurt.

Photography helped me find my way back.

When I started taking self-portraits, something shifted. Seeing myself through the camera lens gave me a little bit of distance from all the day-to-day struggles of living in my body. Instead of focusing on what was wrong, I started noticing things I’d forgotten were there: strength, softness, resilience, vulnerability.

I found myself thinking, “Look at that body. Look at everything she’s been through.”

Photography gave me a chance to see myself with more kindness and compassion. To be curious instead of critical. To tell a different story about my body.

It didn’t magically fix my relationship with myself overnight, but it helped me reconnect, little by little.

If you’ve ever felt disconnected from your body, through illness, trauma, grief, disability, or just the experience of being human, maybe photography could help you too.

I’d love to help you see yourself through a different lens, reconnect with who you are, and maybe even find a little bit of yourself again. 🧡🧡🧡

08/06/2026

Who are empowerment shoots for?
For women.
For men.
For q***r people.
For trans, non-binary and gender diverse humans.
For the people still figuring themselves out.
For the people finally coming home to themselves.
For the ones who have spent years being told they are too much.
Too soft. Too loud. Too emotional. Too masculine. Too feminine. Too different.
For the people learning to be seen on their own terms.
Empowerment shoots are not about fitting into a version of beauty, confidence, masculinity, femininity, or identity created by someone else.
They are about you.
They are for you. 🧡

07/06/2026

Throwback to the best shoot with these two who were visiting from the US and literally found me by googling "Q***r Friendly Photographer Auckland" 🩷💜

I love it when google actually works sometimes! hehe

Still obsessed with this shoot! x

04/06/2026

**Who are empowerment shoots for?**

Not just the ultra-confident.
Not just the “photogenic.”
Not just people who feel completely comfortable in their bodies.

They’re for the healing, the growing, the grieving, the brave, the soft, the messy, the powerful, the in-between.

You don’t need to change yourself to deserve beautiful photographs.

Come exactly as you are. 🤍

02/06/2026

Do it for the joy of it. ✨

For the joy of feeling free, for the joy of embracing yourself, for the joy of doing something just for you.

Book your empowerment shoot with Auckland photographer today X

01/06/2026

Project Update: “Now You See Me” – Endo Empowerment Project 🧡🩷

A little update on where things are at behind the scenes with the Now You See Me Endometriosis Empowerment Project.

I’m currently waiting to hear back from Fujifilm regarding gear rental for the upcoming shoots, which will help shape the next stage of the work.

On a more practical note, I also need to get my car lights fixed before I can safely drive down for the next round of travel and shooting. I’ll be heading back through Wellington for follow-up portraits and stopping at a couple of important locations along the way. 🚘

Over the next short while, I’ll be in touch with participants again, (especially those based in Auckland) to confirm details and next steps for upcoming sessions. 📸

For timing, things are currently shaping up like this:

* Palmerston North / New Plymouth/ BOP/ Wellington shoots: likely late July (TBC)
* Wellington exhibition: September
* Auckland exhibition: October (dates still to be confirmed)

Thank you again to everyone involved for your patience as this project continues to grow and take shape. It’s been such a meaningful process already with a lot of moving parts! I can’t wait to share more soon. 🩷🧡

30/05/2026

Real talk: creative businesses come with a weird kind of double pressure. 🎨

Many of us didn’t start creating to make money, we started because we loved our art. But somewhere between niches, algorithms, consistency, and paying the bills, creativity started feeling more like obligation than freedom. It was so easy to get wrapped up in trying to pay the bills instead of trying to make art.

Ironically, a weird, unexpected thing has happened now where starting a FT “regular” job has given me more creative freedom. Less pressure to create for likes, money, or survival. More space to make art for art’s sake again.

And for me, the extra strange thing I realized is that I wouldn’t actually change much. Empowerment photography was never about money for me. It’s always been about beautiful bodies, beautiful images, and helping people feel good in themselves.

And that hasn’t changed.

I might just be a little braver, bolder, and more creative moving forward ✨

Lucky lucky me 🧡