About

Hi, my name is Darren Ellis and I’m a photographer focused on urban and rural scapes. Backwards Drifting is where I feature this work and sell limited prints.

A Quick Story

My relationship with photography began with my father, who has spent a lifetime capturing the world around him. I recall many moments of him hunched over some detail or asking strangers for their portrait. It was embarrassing then, but years later I found myself doing the same thing. I had caught the bug.

Today, my style and drive to shoot is influenced by those times, just as my subjects of choice are influenced by my youth in Arizona. I spent a lot of my time outdoors observing the natural world, playing on the hot suburban asphalt, and riding my skateboard over concrete paths and alleys of endless strip malls. Those moments and scenes continue to reverberate and appear in my work.

Over the years my gear has ranged from toy film cameras, to early digital compacts, to a DSLR, to the iPhone, to the mirrorless systems I use today. What I gained from my self-lessons and mostly fixed-lens path is a focus on spontaneity, determination, creative approach, and composition. These are things I want to bring here and share.