We recently connected with Jennie Ellis and have shared our conversation below.

Jennie , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

In 2009, my family and I started a school in a primitive, mountainous region of Haiti. I learned during my first trip that I needed a photographer to document students and their progress to sponsors in the US. It was not feasible to bring a photographer every trip so I decided I needed to learn. For the next 10 years, I hauled my equipment and a portable printer and taught myself how to capture moments without exploiting anyone or taking his or her dignity. I was completely in my element- savoring the moments of beautiful relationships and also devastating poverty. Americans needed to know the people, their conditions, and their needs and my camera was the catalyst.

Eventually I began to share what I had learned with my US community. Since we had no electricity in Haiti I strictly learned to use natural light and continued that when I returned home. I never successfully finished a photography class because at that time it was all about the creativity. The mechanics of the art came much later. It was important to me that I not get ideas online or from others so that my work was original and not plagiarized. I was very focused on the art form while raising 4 teenaged boys with my husband.

Near the end of our time in Haiti about 5 years ago, I began photographing families/people/animals for free as a way to “love people without an agenda,” a concept I live my life trying to embody. Foster and adoptive families, moms who are recovering addicts, animals on death row at the pound, children with disabilities, etc. Many times I have presented these photos at art events. Some of the themes have been “strong women,” “people who are secretly incredible,” and “children with disabilities doing something amazing.” I savor the moments when people see authentic photos of themselves hanging on a wall for the first time. I am also hired to do family shoots, head shots, etc. I find a healthy balance that keeps me inspired and also financially secure.

During that same time period, I was casually taking photos of a friend’s daughter, Ella. Over the course of about an hour, I saw how confident she became about halfway through the session. Her eyes came alive and her stance became confident. I knew there was something very significant about what was emerging.
I began to see the connection I made with girls and women when I photographed them naturally and talked them through the process.

We all want to be SEEN, and not for our hair color or body shape. I would spend about two hours with one girl and dig deeper into who she is and what her insecurities are and tap into her strengths. Since Ella was who inspired this idea, I have named my LLC Ella-gance.

I have upcoming photo shows in our newly renovated barn venue on our property in Plant City, FL., which is called Bethany Oaks Farm. We moved here two years ago and instantly had 17 acres of beautiful photography backdrops. Wooden fences, billowing oak trees, cypress wading in the swamp, and grazing farm animals are only a portion of the options available to me. This atmosphere brings out the best in people- they begin to relax, take in the fresh air and clear their minds of the endless chatter. What was once horse stable is now a venue where we host weddings and parties. Even though these events are great opportunities for me to use my photography skills, I hire out someone else to do it because that is not my passion nor my skill set. I stay within the organic, unscripted type of experiences and leave the events to those who are way better at it than I am.

I was in my early 40s when I tapped into my creative side. Once I did, there was no going back! I have been changed dramatically by a camera with above average equipment, people in front of me who are honest and authentic and my heart that wants desperately to capture everyone true to who they are.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I am a photographer/business owner in central Florida. I started both businesses because they were presented in front of me and I took the risk and started to learn. I am a student first and a professional second. I love to work with people and use my interpersonal skills to make me better at what I do.

I am unconventional and creativity is everything. I love to capture photos or someone’s big day in our barn venue as naturally as possible. I do not like anything staged or scripted because then it is not authentic.

I did not know I was creative til my 40s and I hope everyone finds their jam much younger than I did.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I taught myself photography when we were helping in a very poor part of Haiti. We started a school and the area had no running water or electricity. We ran the generator a few hours a day and I had to take advantage of that time to charge my equipment and hope it lasted. I would often sit in the pitch dark editing through the night. If I had enough electricity, I would print out photos on my little portable printer to hand out to the families- none of them had ever seen a photo of themselves.

The area was very mountainous and when it rained it was very slippery. Often I would start to fall and my friends would know to grab my camera bag as it was my lifeline of communication between Haiti and the US.

In a poor, third world country there are always obstacles but it is how you overcome them that matters most.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

We live in a world of fancy backdrops, crazy filters, and mini photo shoots. None of those resonate with me so I had to forge ahead in this industry doing what felt right to me. I don’t know Photoshop but have people who can alter a photo for me if it is very important. I don’t change facial features or body shape. I also don’t set up huge scenes for holidays where the child in the photo can hardly be detected. An hour is the minimum amount of time I will take for a session and I know it is more lucrative to do mini sessions but it just is not me.

It is important to me to stay true to who I am. Natural, organic and personal. Photos should tell a story. If they don’t, they are simply snapshots and I don’t have time to take pictures like that.

Contact Info:

• Website: jennieellis.com
• Instagram: Jennie Ellis Photography
• Facebook: Jennie Ellis Photography

Image Credits
photo of me by Baylee Warneke (first photo) and the rest are my photography