Ellie Ramsden is a photographer whose practice centres portraiture and documentary photography due to her deep interest in people and real-life stories.

After spending many years feeling different, Ellie has found a sense of belonging in subculture. These spaces, often community-driven and built around a shared interest, are where she often feels the truest version of herself. Escapism often thrives here - with world news usually feeling heavy, these communities are a reminder that joy is resistance. Whether she’s capturing Elvis impersonators on the Welsh coast, or a coven of witches performing rituals in a woodland - she enjoys niche interests, conversation tangents and communities doing interesting things.

Ellie is interested in human connection, collective identity and communities who are choosing to resist mainstream narratives. In a world where so many people are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with their relationships, she is drawn to questions such as: what makes us human, and how we can connect more meaningfully - with each other and the world around us? Ellie's collaborative approach to photographic storytelling gives space for empowerment and authentic imagery of the shared human experience.

Ellie’s photography has been exhibited internationally and widely featured in the press by publications such as BBC News, Creative Review and Clash magazine. Her work is held in the permanent archive of the Museum of Youth Culture, she was a Portrait of Britain winner in 2024 and has been selected for Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize 2026.

Print sales are available on request.

Commercially represented by Swerve Represents

Licensing by KINTZING

Select clients:

Nike, Adidas, Instagram, Spotify, Google Pixel, Arsenal, Copa90, Samsung, Facebook, FT HTSI, The Guardian, Complex, CALM, CN Traveller, Bacardi, Vice, Hinge, Superdrug, Comic Relief, Nuffield Health, VERSUS, Foundation FM, Keep Hush, Girls United.

Features:

BBC News, Londonist, Clash Magazine, Creative Review, GUAP, Keep Hush, aint-bad, Foundation FM, TMRW mag, Mixmag, Evening Standard, Trench Trench Trench, Wordplay Magazine, Hundred Heroines, Mini Click, Rife magazine, The Doyennes, 14HQ.

Solo exhibitions:

2023: TPF Social Documentary Grant Winner - Photobook Cafe, London

2022: Portraits in the Park - Crystal Palace Calling, London

2020: The Future is in The Air - Keep Hush pop-up, London

2019: Too Many Man: Women of Grime - Adidas HQ, Germany

2019: Too Many Man: Women of Grime - Keakie, London

Group exhibitions:

2026: Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize - National Portrait Gallery, London (upcoming)

2026: Subculture Street Party - Museum of Youth Culture, London

2026: From Soundboy to Streaming - Roundhouse, London

2026: We Are Soul - National Gallery, London

2024: Horses Change Midstream - Hypha HQ, London

2024: Portrait of Britain vol.6 - UK wide

2023: The Faces of Womanhood - Outernet London

2022: Take More Photos: Lovin' London - Outernet London

2022: Grown up in Britain: 100 Years of Teenage Kicks - The Herbert, Coventry

2022: Top Boy Live - The Truman Brewery, London

2022: Postcards from Europe - Cambridge University

2022: Simpler Saturdays - Museum of Youth Culture gallery, London

2021: Edition365 - British Journal of Photography (online)

2021: The Print Swap - Foley Gallery, New York

2021: A Way of Life - Museum of Youth Culture gallery, London

2020: Home Museum - LagosPhoto Festival 2020 (online)

2020: Non-Conformist - ElliottHalls Gallery (online)

2020: (Re)framing our Identities - Bologna, Italy

2019: Streetstyle: from Teddy Boys to Grime Kids - Trinity Art Gallery, London

2019: Representation on the Line: (Un)framing Our Identities - Hive, Blackpool

2019: Representation on the Line: (Un)framing Our Identities - Chelsea Telephone Exhange, London

2018: South West Graduate Photography Prize - Old Truman Bewery, London

2018: 32 Photographers - Gallery Different, London

2017: Behind the Beat - Spectrum, Brighton

2017: Hardwick Gallery Collection - Hardwick Gallery, Cheltenham

2016: Blank Space Gallery - Vancouver, Canada

Permanent collections:

Museum of Youth Culture archives

Photo Book Cafe Archive

Photo credit: Elishama Udorok

Ellie Ramsden

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