I've been taking photographs for over thirty five years. My first camera was a Kodak 110 Pocket Instamatic which I got for a school trip to Rome when I was 13. I've no idea what my last camera will be, but I know my wife hopes it will be one I already own. I think that's unlikely.

I spent years working in Africa, covering wildlife protection, internally displaced communities, and rural poverty. I once spent several hours on a roof top, in winter, setting up and shooting for a product launch, only to realise when everything had been packed up that I'd forgotten to put film in the camera! I have been threatened with a tortoise for taking a sangoma's picture without asking permission and was once arrested as a spy for taking a picture of a shepherd's hut that tuned out to be a police post. I miss darkrooms, the smell of developer and making real contact sheets, but grudgingly admit that digital is much easier to work with and better for the planet.

And, my name is John. The Ellis bit is an amalgamation of my children's names. I guess that's what you get for letting your kids name your business! I should probably be glad it's not Princess Primrose Sparkle Photography which was a possibility for a while