Jennie Ellis

I became a photographer in 2009 when I took my first of 26 trips to a mountainous region of Haiti where we started a church and school. I lived in the US and traveled quarterly to Haiti to bring back information and photos to educate Americans about the needs and raise the money to aid a group of people who were invisible to their country. No running water. No electricity. Trying to scrape by working the farms and selling their goods at the market. I desperately needed natural, authentic photos and could not hire a photographer every trip so I borrowed a camera and taught myself how to take a picture and make it come alive.

I am not a technical wizard or a lighting genius, but I know how to capture the beauty of a person in a timeless way. I love the interaction with people, seeing them gain confidence during a photo shoot and then their expression when they see themselves in photos. Photography is where I come so alive. It is a passion that has only grown stronger with time and now I am starting a nonprofit to highlight my work with girls and women.

I am a mom of 4 sons and a bonus daughter and have been married to my husband for 29 years. I am creative, an outside the box thinker, and I see the world in photographs. Every day life is a series of breathtaking images that could be hanging in a museum, in my living room or just live in my memories. I see the beauty  in textures, colors that evoke emotion and endearing faces.

Living on a 17 acre farm gives me the perfect backdrop for natural, organic photography. Whether among huge oaks, acres of cypresses, or the expanse of a pasture, there are opportunities for capturing images of wildlife, portraits of individuals or families coming together.

I value authenticity in my own life and in my work. I don’t manipulate people’s physical qualities and do not pose people in awkward, contorted ways. I do not use props that would distract from the person being photographed. I do not follow editing trends or search Pinterest for my ideas. I study the person or the dynamic of people together and do my best to capture the truest version of them that I can. My values when it comes to photography are very simple and I stay true to them in my work.