i’m Leigh 👋
i've always been deeply curious about people - how we move through the world, what makes us tick, what happens beneath the surface, and all the little things that make an experience memorable.
i wear many hats - aura photographer, experience designer, dj, and lifelong student of self.
my work blends intuition with intention.
i care about creating spaces where people can soften, get curious, and feel seen.
before Aether, I spent years working in events, entertainment, ops management and experience design.
Aether Studio grew out of all of that.
lil bit art practice + lil bit experience design,
a lotta bit spiritual playground,
and an invitation to see yourself through a new lense.
hi friend!
why aether?
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why aether? 〰️
aether is the fifth element.
✦ earth.
✦ water.
✦ fire.
✦ air.
✦ aether.
it's the space between things.
the atmosphere that holds us.
the field where what we feel exists before it has words.
i liked the idea of naming a studio after something you can't quite hold.
because that's what this work is about.
making the invisible visible.
aura portraits give us a visual language for something we experience all the time but rarely get to see.
+ for me, this work is about reverence.
it's a joy - and an honor - to use this medium to reflect one more layer of someone back to themselves.
i'm not here to define you, fix you, or explain your feelings away.
i'm just here to look with you.
powered by soma lumin
a very cool vintage technology got a very cool upgrade.
aura photography has been around for decades, but the technology has traditionally lived inside some pretty serious hardware.
big cameras.
temperamental cameras.
cumbersome cameras.
the kind of technology that was fascinating as hell, but not exactly built to wander around town.
then Soma Lumin entered the chat.
in 2025, Summer Ray developed a modern, mobile evolution of this vintage technology - making it possible for aura photography to move beyond the traditional studio and into the world.
which means Aether is bringing this technology to a whole new corner of the world.
and i'm very into that.
I would be remiss not to shout out the woman + the tech that is making my dreams of living abroad + running my own biz possible. check out her site; if you feel called to explore becoming a practitioner, her doors are open