Through the lens, toward the truth: Ashley Davis finds her voice in documentary film

By Sophie Tran

When Ashley Davis arrived at Virginia Commonwealth University, she thought she knew what her artistic path would look like.

She had spent years painting and drawing and expected to continue doing so in college. Film was not part of the plan. In fact, when Davis first entered the VCU School of the Arts, she had no background in film or photography and did not own a camera.

That changed during her Art Foundation year, when she discovered film and began experimenting with a medium that connected with something she had been exploring throughout her childhood: using art to tell the truth.

"I still draw. I still do music," Davis said. "But I found something that is deeply embedded in every single thing that I wanted to do since I was a kid."

As Davis moved through VCUarts' photography and film program, she began developing a particular interest in documentary filmmaking, focusing on memory, history and stories that are often overlooked.

That interest eventually led to an opportunity Davis had not expected when she first picked up a camera: becoming the first student from the photography and film department selected for the Yale Norfolk Summer School of Art.

Davis said she was surprised to be recommended for the program and felt that being nominated by her department was itself a recognition that her work had begun to stand out. Being selected for the program clinched it.

"That's when it really hit," Davis said. "I'm doing something different, and I'm doing something that's worth me being in these spaces."

For Davis, the summer at Yale Norfolk became an extension of the experimentation that had defined her time at VCUarts.

She joined 25 other students in an intensive environment where artists worked largely independently but constantly exchanged ideas. Each student had a studio with 24-hour access, while classes, critiques, readings, faculty studio visits and visiting artist workshops filled the program.

Davis found the community particularly valuable because feedback was built into everyday life. Students could walk into one another's studios, discuss their work and exchange readings and ideas.

"You were always around people who had the same creative interests as you," Davis said. "It was a very comforting feeling of always being able to ask people for feedback."

The experience also challenged Davis to think beyond the boundaries of documentary filmmaking. She met individually with all eight faculty members and received feedback as well as recommendations for artists and work she could study. During one workshop, Davis also worked with artist Glenn Ligon, whose studio visit gave her another perspective on her practice.

At the same time, Yale Norfolk gave Davis an opportunity to return to the art forms she had once expected to pursue.

Before the program, she had not painted in nearly a year. Surrounded by artists working across different disciplines, she began drawing and painting again and sought feedback from artists with years of experience in those fields.

"Now I feel like it's coming easier for me," Davis said. "I'm getting in the spaces that I want to be."

Her professors have played an important role in that progression, particularly Sasha Waters, who taught Davis in Documentary II and was one of the faculty members who nominated her for Yale Norfolk. Davis said Waters recognized her passion for documentary and helped her see what she could do with it.

As she moves toward her senior year, Davis is researching graduate programs in documentary filmmaking and considering programs that lean more heavily toward journalism or fine art.

"It was like a perfect blend of the things that I want to do," Davis said. "I want to be able to show people the truth. I want to be able to let people know the events that are happening in real time and being able to do that both through the news but also through my personal documentary work is definitely just a pairing that I love."

For Davis, that work is also about using the opportunities she has received through VCUarts to amplify people who may not have the same access to resources or platforms.

"Because of the position of privilege I am in, which is being able to go to college and being able to have these resources, there's people that don't have that privilege," Davis said. "I feel like with that, I can be the person to showcase these stories."

It is a purpose that Davis has carried since she was younger. In middle school, she began calling herself an "art activist," viewing art as a way to advocate for issues she believed mattered.

"Little by little, the world is showing me that I'm meant to be in these spaces," Davis said.

Her advice to other students is to keep moving forward even when that certainty is not there yet.

"Keep it pushing," Davis said. "Fight through that doubt. And do the work that you feel like you're meant to do."