About Ellen

     Ellen was born and raised in Nevada City, California, and her family has had strong ties to the community since the mid-1960's when her grandparents moved up from Oakland after purchasing the Miner's Foundry. After the foundry was sold to Osborn & Woods in the mid-1970's, her family began a new business that still flourishes today. 
     Ellen recently moved back to her hometown after 18 years of living in Anchorage, Alaska. She earned a Master's in Library and Information Sciences, and later she studied photography through the Fine Arts program at the University of Alaska Anchorage. She plans to continue her art studies in California. In March 2018, Ellen took the opportunity to purchase a real estate photography business, with plans to slowly expand out and offer additional photographic services. 
       Her work has been shown in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, and the Anchorage Museum, and has received student and national awards. Ellen shoots what she loves, finds the ordinary to be extraordinary, likes to play with the sense of scale, and cannot resist a gorgeous landscape. She works with digital, film, and alternative processes- or any combination of the above that makes an image work.
     Photography is deeply intertwined with her love for art, exploration, and adventure. Her formative photographic influences include Ansel Adams and years of poring over National Geographic magazines. Her travels through Europe gave her a solid start on her art education, and a journey through Australia with her first digital camera inspired her to photograph how that sunburnt country made her feel, and thus realized her passion for photography. Her friends and professors have tremendously influenced her work by showing her what is possible, to find the joy in experimentation, and turn failed experiments into something that works. 
    She would not be where she is today without the love, encouragement, and support of her teachers, friends, and family.