a brief introduction
hello and welcome!
first of all, thank you for being here - i have put a lot of my time and a great deal of my heart into creating this website. while i’m generally terrified of attention and feel incredibly vulnerable allowing my work an audience, i truly am proud of what i have built here and i am grateful to be sharing a part of myself with the world.
my name is ari and i created ariwildwest over the course of summer 2024. countless hours have gone into organizing, editing, and refining this portfolio website, all of my photos, and my prints & shop space. one reason i started this is to give younger me a platform to do what she always wanted to — i wrote a little bit on how my fascination for Animal Planet and NatGeo as a child inspired my love for wild places on my about page, but what i didn’t mention there is that those channels shaped my long-held dream to become a wildlife & nature photographer. i received my first “big girl” camera from my grandma on my 16th birthday (a Canon Rebel T3 that i still use today!) and for a few years, i couldn’t put that camera down. when it came time for college applications, i was torn between pursuing my dream of photography or taking the more practical route of an environmental science degree… but i didn’t believe in myself enough then to risk becoming a “starving artist”. i don’t believe in regrets, but if i could change one thing, it would have been to follow my passion instead of my fear. and so here we are.
although i am mainly doing this for myself, i do recognize the responsibility of having a platform and the potential to reach a larger audience online. because i have an environmental science background and spend a lot of time recreationally outdoors, the second reason i created this site and have decided to share my work is to share both my adoration for the planet as well as my concern for its overall well-being. we exist on the brink of environmental and climate collapse, and although at times it feels like a helpless cause to scream into the void about, using my voice to bring awareness to these issues is one of the best things i can do as an individual. if i can inspire even one person to do better for the earth or teach them how to be outside responsibly, then i will feel like all of this work was well worth it. this is also why one goal i have with my shop is to be able to donate part of my profits to environmental justice organizations and groups that help fight climate catastrophe.
while i am proud of the work i have showcased on this site, i know that my best work is still yet to come. i have a lot of goals and ideas for the future of ariwildwest, and i’m incredibly excited to see how this grows and how i evolve alongside my work over time. i’ll continue to update my galleries with new photos as i travel and explore more of our earth, as well as offer prints and hopefully some other products as this progresses. you can also expect to see some trip itineraries, hiking trail reviews, product recommendations, and advice on how to enjoy nature responsibly via this blog.
again, thank you for being here. you can also find me on instagram, tiktok, or contact me through this site if you’d like to connect.
- ari x