She was given her first camera, at the age of six, by her father. Ellis Ritter views photography as an explorative process, often examining family and photography's relationship to memory. Her work has been exhibited internationally, most recently by The New Yorker, at PRC: Exposure 2011, on Women in Photography, by the Corcoran Gallery of Art with 100 Portraits: 100 Photographers, at Catherine Edelman Gallery, by Taschen NYC and at Humble Arts “31 Under 31” exhibition.