Portrait by Tamara Blake Chapman

Ashley McLean is a visual artist based in New York City. She received her B.F.A. in Photography and Video from the School of Visual Arts and briefly studied in the Fine Arts program at the Universität der Künste Berlin in 2021.

McLean renders her subjects through photography with a deep sense of tenderness and sensitivity, highlighting their connection to the natural world. Her work explores themes of masculinity, Black identity, and subjectivity. She has exhibited both domestically and internationally, including in the 2022 Dior Photography and Visual Arts Award for Young Talents group showcase.

In 2023, she was awarded the Creator Labs Photo Fund from the Aperture Foundation and Google Pixel.

Currently, McLean is pursuing an MFA in Visual Arts at Columbia University.