Ed + Ashley + Annika — At Home
There have been so many beautiful pieces written about the musical life and legacy of Ed Ackerson since his passing in October, and I also wrote a little bit about his musical influence on my own life, here. Despite my own history with Ed’s music I don’t necessarily feel like the exact right person to tell that story because Minneapolis is lucky to house some of the best music writers in the world and there are so many other people that were so connected to Ed in that way and have spoken to his impact on music in such a perfect way.
On top of Ed’s musical genius I consider myself so lucky to have had the privilege to witness the deep love that he had for Ashley + Annika and the incredible connection that the three of them shared. Every year since Annika was born I had the immense honor to photograph them together as a family and always felt incredibly grateful to be able to witness that journey and document it for them to keep forever.
I’ve witnessed a lot of loss in my own life and it’s one of the things that keeps bringing me back to family photography. Even though throughout every photo shoot we’re laughing and running and playing and it seems super light-hearted in the moment, or I know that all you’re thinking about right now is trying to get that one photo for a holiday card or to post on instagram, I’ve unfortunately printed enough of my photos for memorials to know that these photos that we’re creating together, and these split-second moments that we’re documenting right now are only going to grow in value and they’ll mean the world to you later on. That seems narcissistic to type, but it’s not about me as the photographer at all, it’s all about you and the preservation of your family’s legacy and I try to keep all of these things in mind throughout every photo session.
Ashley’s done such an amazing job of keeping Ed’s spirit + legacy alive. I know the grieving process is complicated for everyone, and doesn’t get easier when the stories get quieter, so ahead of the Celebration of Life for Ed that’s happening at First Avenue this weekend I talked to Ashley about sharing these photos from their session in September. Some of them have already popped up in City Pages and various places, but I wanted to share the whole session together and tell a little bit of the story in case it’s helpful for everyone that’s connected to Ed + Ashley + Annika.
I’m going to be honest: I was, obviously, a mess leading up to this shoot because it was so important to me to get it right for them. A couple weeks before this session Pete Townsend referenced Ed’s illness from stage at a Who concert (just let that sink in a little bit. More proof that Ed was, and is, far cooler than any of us will ever be). That shout-out prompted Ed + Ashley to announce it publicly, so I knew the gravity of it all going into the session.
Walking up to their house I was just hoping on everything that Ed was feeling physically ok that day and up for photos, that Annika was excited about photos that day (during our last session Annika fell asleep at the studio on our first attempt and then refused to wear clothes for 95% of our second attempt 😂) and that Ashley was ok after having all of this on her shoulders. As an empath I was also telling myself that I absolutely had to bury my own emotions until I got back to my car so I didn’t add any more stress to their lives.
When I knocked on their door all I could hear was Annika running towards me + screaming “AUUUUNNNNTIIIIIEEEEE SSSSAAARRRAAAA!” and then Ed saying “Jesus, are the f*cking Beatles here?!”. In that moment I knew that everything was going to be just fine.
One thing that may get a little lost in the legacy round-ups of Ed is the pure love and pride he had for both Annika + Ashley. He lit up when he was talking about new music or something new happening at Flowers, but he completely beamed when he was watching Annika discover something new or talking about Ashley’s new projects (even as we were in the studio, talking about what would be his final project, Capricorn One, he couldn’t help but point out that Ashley had a new project, too, and he wanted to rave about that).
Every time I saw them, from the time Annika was born, he couldn’t help but gush about the new stage she was in or the new thing she learned to do. At this last session together he was amazed at how Annika was learning to really focus on rhythm when she picked up an instrument instead of just slamming away at it like she did when she was a toddler. Even when they were playing drums together and the lyrics she was making up were 100% about the dogs pooping in the yard he was still always just in complete awe of her and excited to see what she was going to do next. If she was having a hard time during a photo shoot he would calmly try to explain to her that art was important and we could all create it together.
Ed talked constantly about what he wanted to teach her and why, and the why part of that is so telling. He was intentional about everything in his life and it was really beautiful to see him bring that thoughtfulness to his role as Annika’s dad.
We magically struck gold and somehow all the stars aligned on that day in so many ways. I still can’t wrap my head around it, but I’m so grateful and so glad we could spend this time documenting the unbelievable love these three have for each other. Before I left I gave Ed a hug and he talked about how much support he received after the announcement and how much it meant to him. I wish everyone connected to Ed could have been there on this day to witness it in person and heard those words coming straight from him, but I hope you can feel all the love in these images.
Before scrolling through the photos, please bookmark these links:
Celebration of Life: On Saturday, February 15th there’s a celebration of life at First Avenue to honor Ed. If you’re in Minneapolis please buy tickets, rock your hearts out and fill the best rock club in the country with all the love in the world.
GoFundMe: Friends have setup a campaign for Ashley + Annika to ease some of the financial burden so they can just focus on healing.
Capricorn One: Ed’s final album, which is being released at the Celebration of Life.
City Pages Article: The full cover story, celebrating the life of Ed Ackerson, by Erik Thompson.
