For Amber N. Ford, a photography class her freshman year at Charles F. Brush High School in Lyndhurst started it all.
“Then when it came time my senior year to figure out what to do next, I decided if I was going to go on to school, it had to be for something I really enjoyed but could also see myself having a career in,” she recalls. “Photography made the most sense.”
Amber decided to attend the Cleveland Institute of Art, where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography in 2016. From there, she worked at the Cleveland Print Room for about a year helping teach an after-school photo mastery program. She then worked at CIA for a couple of years as a technical specialist and lab manager before moving to New Orleans in February 2020. Unfortunately, the global pandemic that erupted in March forced her to return to Cleveland a few months later, where she ended up working in awareness building for ThirdSpace Action Lab in Glenville.
She had launched her part-time freelance business Ford Foto in August 2015, but decided in 2022 to commit to her freelance work full-time. Her work ranges from projects for nonprofit clients such as The Cleveland Museum of Art, CIA, the Urban League of Greater Cleveland and the Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation to photojournalism and editorial assignments for The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Public Radio, and The Wall Street Journal.
“I describe my work as people-based, either portraits of people with possibly some supporting images that aren’t necessarily of people,” Amber says. “Even in my fine art practice I’m either photographing people or the conversations about people, even if people aren’t in the frame.”
Last year, 11 of Amber’s images were showcased in the Cleveland Foundation’s opening show in the Fred & Laura Ruth Bidwell Exhibition Space in its new headquarters. The exhibition, “Complex Structures: Indelible Stories of Coming Home,” was done in collaboration with Shelli Reeves (storytelling) and Leila Khoury (exhibition and book design) and features 11 neighbors of the foundation.
Reeves, a friend and collector of Amber’s photos who works at Ideo, says: “Amber’s work is transformative and allows a window into community and different people’s lives that provides a unique representation, especially of Black people and people of color that is not only reflective, but feels as though the images are in conversation with community and with her.”
Her next goal? Return to school to earn her MFA. She plans to place her CAP prize money into savings for more freedom to focus on her graduate studies.
“I want to give myself that two-year focus on bettering my practice as I grow and build new community and relations in another city wherever I end up going to school, but I want to continue expanding my practice as well as my freelance business,” she assures.
Has Cleveland served as a good base for her photography career? “Cleveland’s been amazing,” Amber says. “Always supportive. Keeps me busy. I’m really grateful for my community. Friends and family all have been supportive over the years. Without them, none of this would have been possible.”