“The people in my life are my
greatest inspiration.
Portraiture allows me to share
the stories I see in others.”

Ellen Marie Leathers-Wishart is a photographer and social worker who lives in Austin, Texas.

Drawn to the utilitarian qualities of the medium, Ellen studied photography at Maryland Institute College of Art where she received her bachelor's degree and holds a master’s degree in social work from UT. She has since worked as an aerial photographer in Oregon and Texas. She is also a trained carpenter.

Although she has always been enchanted by the striking quality and magic of tintypes, it wasn't until 2015 that she decided to learn how to make them herself. She apprenticed with an established photographer who taught her the process of exposing images directly onto metal plates. She then bought a large format camera that was once used by Ansel Adams and taught herself the rest.

In the spring of 2018, Ellen finished building her mobile tintype studio on a 16' trailer. The entire process of creating a tintype portrait can be done within her studio. However, Ellen is currently pursuing her career in social work in Austin Texas and will hopefully be reopening her studio in 2025.