Graduate feature on Ellie Ramsden who was recently commissioned to shoot an advertising campaign for Nike.
17th February 2020
Recent graduate Ellie Ramsden is a photographer based in London, who specialises in portrait, music and street photography.
Ellie graduated in 2018 and in that short period of time she has achieved so much, from shooting editorials, to giving presentations and talks about her work, having her work exhibited at ADIDAS Germany, releasing her first self published photobook ‘Too Many Man’ and recently shooting her first advertising campaign for Nike.
Ellie’s love for underground music and youth culture have led her to document London’s music scene, and she self-published a photo-book exploring women in the grime scene. Ellie is also Creative Executive on the Hundred Heroines campaign, which celebrates women in photography today.
Here Ellie talks about her practice and her experience as a student on the Editorial and Advertising Photography Degree. Students’ studying on the Editorial and Advertising Photography Degree are industry trained in all areas of the creative industries.
When did you graduate?
I graduated in November 2018, although it feels like much longer ago as so much has happened!
Why did you decide to come onto the Editorial and Advertising Photography course?
I went to quite a few different university open days, going to their photography course talks before making a decision where I’d like to go. I decided on the Ed & Ad Photography course as my first choice because it seemed by far the best course, and there were a few reasons for this. The most important reason to me was that the tutors actually really cared, not just about what they were teaching, but about their students and how they could best help them. I definitely found this to be true throughout the course.
Were you able to draw on the transferable skills learnt on the course after you left and started working?
I learnt so many skills throughout my time on the course, and these weren’t just technical skills. I learnt a lot about myself as a photographer – what I wanted to photograph (because when I came on the course I had no idea), and I started to adapt a style. I learnt how to tell a story through my work, which is so important, especially now that individual photographs can be so disposable these days.
Has the course prepared you for working within the creative industries?
The course helped prepare me for working within the creative industries. We had a compulsory work experience module (which was daunting but so helpful). We also had a lot of workshops and talks which helped prepare us, such as how to write a CV, getting a portfolio of work together and being able to talk about our work.
What have you been working on since you left University?
I’ve been working on a lot of things since I left uni. I carried on with a project I started in my second year and self-published it as a book in 2019. I’m working on a second edition at the moment which I’m planning to release in Spring 2020. I’ve been busy creating a network, meeting and photographing people. I’ve worked with a few brands such as Bacardi and Facebook, shot the front cover of a music magazine, and had a solo exhibition at the Adidas HQ in Germany. I’ve also just worked with Nike on their latest campaign which really was a dream come true!!
Would you recommend the Editorial and Advertising Photography course and if so why?
I’d definitely recommend the Ed & Ad Photography course as you learn so much. From techniques, equipment, photography styles, moving image, how to put on an exhibition, academic writing, social media… the list goes on.
IG: @ellie_ramsden
Twitter: @ellie_ramsden