Photographer Amee Ellis explores themes of memory, identity, and a sense of place. Her work contemplates intimacy, belonging, and natural history in the Midwest landscape. Infused with a sense of longing and tenderness, her black-and-white photographs celebrate the importance of connection, the joy of wandering, and a deeper understanding of the land and its rhythms. Ellis creates her photographs with film and old manual cameras. She embraces a slow creative process and a meditative approach to collecting images.

 

Born in Owatonna, Minnesota in 1972, Ellis studied photography at Columbia College Chicago and occupational therapy at University of New Mexico. Her work has appeared in multiple solo and juried group exhibitions, including the Figge Art Museum and Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. She collaborated with Des Moines Metro Opera on their 2022 world-premiere production “A Thousand Acres” and has participated in juried art festivals, such as the Des Moines Arts Festival and Art in the Pearl in Portland, Oregon. Ellis’s photographs have been published in dsm Magazine, The Annals of Iowa, Fotofilmic JRNL, and The New Territory magazine, alongside the poetry and prose of the literature section. Her recent project explores relationships between people and the land. She lives in Des Moines, Iowa.