Forward

We met Ashley in 2018 after Tijah reconnected with Debi, Ashley’s mother, at a community event in Charleston, West Virginia. From our first meetings, Ashley was luminous, charismatic, generous, and kind. We were struck by how open Ashley was about her past—her struggles with addiction and the experience of leaving her newborn daughter Piper with Debi in order to get treatment—and we were drawn to Ashley and Debi’s shared journey. We began filming Debi, Ashley, and Piper in the Fall of 2018. At the time, Ashley was working in recovery and celebrating two years of sobriety. Over the course of three years of filming, we witnessed Ashley give birth to her second child, Asher; the deep bond between Ashley, Debi, and Piper; and the remarkable strength of these women as they faced the turbulence and despair of addiction. A few weeks after we finished filming in the Fall of 2021, Ashley passed away from an overdose. Like most people who knew Ashley, we will never recover from this grief and we hold memories of her in our hearts. We hope to honor Ashley’s life through our film and connect with others who are in recovery, struggling with substance use, advocating for recovery resources, and carrying the burden of loss.

In loving memory of Ashley Elizabeth Ellis

February 10, 1987 – November 6, 2021

Synopsis

Picture Proof is a film about mothering and addiction. After giving birth to Piper, Ashley enrolled in a long-term residential recovery program in Louisville, Kentucky, and newborn Piper went to live with her grandparents Debi and Mark in West Virginia. One year out from treatment, Ashley is working to rebuild her life and helping other women who are struggling with addiction. Structured around the act of mothering and the uncertainty of recovery, the film unfolds chronologically as it follows the lives of Ashley, Debi, and Piper. Over the course of three years, the film captures profound moments of joy—Ashley regaining guardianship of Piper and giving birth to her second child, Asher—and intimate moments of grief—when Ashley learns her fiancé has died from an overdose and when Debi breaks down looking for Ashley on the streets when she is in the “madness.” In the bad times, Debi would ask Ashley for “picture proof”: photographic evidence as a token of hope. In the good times, selfies confirm Ashley’s own being in the world as a woman, mom, daughter, partner, sponsor, and friend. Picture Proof is a testament to a life worth documenting, the love and labor of recovery, and the beauty and potential each life holds.

Afterward

An interview with Debi Ellis shot in December 2021.