THEPROINTERVIEW
Whether he’s shooting at home or away, Ellis Reed is adept at capturing the cinematic qualities of a landscape through a lifestyle lens. He tells Lauren Scott about the power of community and learning to grow at your own pace
IF YOU ASK content creator and long-time Canon fan Ellis Reed what he loves about photography now, it’s being part of a positive, shared community. But Ellis didn’t always want to be a photographer. He originally played the lead guitar in a band throughout his teens and ended up going to music college in Bristol where he studied the media side of things. He was interested in design, photography, and videography, and at 18 bought his first Canon DSLR. More than ten years later, Ellis is shooting for a roster of clients, working for Canon, and being part of a thriving online photography space. He’s based in Bath and loves shooting there, but he’s no small-town boy…
Hey Ellis, so tell us a bit about your photography journey. Where did it all start for you… I started getting into photography back when I was in music college, learning about media creation – essentially photography and video for music. I was shooting outside of college, too, and my grandfather was also a keen photographer, so some inspiration came from him. I was 18 when I first bought a proper camera, then over the years, I took it more seriously and began to love going out on adventures and just taking pictures of different architecture, street scenes, and landscapes. I also do UX design work, and I was considering how I could incorporate shooting into the design side of things. A few years on, my photography has turned into freelance.
Do you think that design background has influenced your image-making?
They all share similar ideas. Before I was a designer, I was a musician, and so the design work sprung up from bands needing posters. But each of those things – design, photography and music – share similar processes in terms of how your brain approaches t
