About

Kayte Ellis Agency has often been described as a ‘Boutique Photographic Agency’, compact, stylish, welcoming and with only the best to offer.

Despite the temptation to expand and take on numerous photographers, Kayte Ellis wanted to ensure that her agency was about talent and personal contact, in short quality over quantity. This is why Kayte Ellis Agency prides itself on only taking on photographers we believe demonstrate raw, original and genuine talent and why we work hard to maintain a personal relationship with all of our artists.

Kayte set up her agency in 2001 after working with Sean Ellis for seven years, whose work was steadily becoming renowned throughout the world. Her reputation as an honest, professional and dedicated agent started to grow and so did her client base.
Kayte has worked and overseen production for numerous magazines including Vogue, Interview, Elle, I-D, Numero, Esquire, GQ, Harpers Bazaar, Beauty Papers, Empire, The Times, The Rake, The Jackal, The Telegraph, Vanity Fair as well as campaigns for worldwide brands including Bafta, De Beers, Netflix, Channel 5, BBC, Paramount, Harrods, Jimmy Choo, Heineken, Heathrow, Omega, M & S, Qatar Airlines, John Lewis, Sky, Diesel, Escada, Kenneth Cole, Cover Girl, Max Factor, Specsavers, Braun, Jack Wills, Christian Dior, Plein Sud, Hugo Boss, Landrover and many others.

We also offer a full photographic production and casting service around the globe, meaning we really do work hand in hand with our photographers, art directors and clients.

Photographers

Jay Brooks

Portrait photographer Jay Brooks originally studied Film & TV Set Design at Wimbledon School of Art but truly fell for photography after a road trip across America in the mid 90’s.

His original theatrical studies have, however, left a lasting impression on his photographic style and method of working. Jay’s keen interest in location and acute attention to detail, storyboarding and props combine, often with a dark seam of humour, to create unique environments for his portraits. His graphic, cinematic style and atmospheric lighting has made him a popular choice across the worlds of film, television and theatre producing key art and promotional imagery for Netflix, Amazon, Sky, HBO, Discovery and The BBC.

His characterful celebrity portraiture has graced the pages of some of the UK’s most respected publications including Vanity Fair, The Guardian Weekend Magazine, Wired and Times Magazine. Jay has a continuing relationship with BAFTA, regularly contributing to their photographic archive, much of which has been exhibited at their Piccadilly headquarters. Jay also works regularly for Netflix, BBC, Paramount, The National Theatre, The Old Vic and The Royal Court Theatre providing promotional and advertising images.

Despite being kept busy with such a varied raft of commissions, Jay still finds time to work on his personal projects; His project on Britain’s very first youth culture, the teddy boys, continues to gather pace and he regularly travels across the UK covering tradition-based dance events ranging from the conventional to the decidedly off-the-wall. Jay is also proud to currently have four portraits in the permanent collection of The National Portrait Gallery.

He is based in North London where he lives happily on a diet of late nights and Haribo.

Sune Czajkowski

Sune was born in Copenhagen and grew up between Denmark and West-Africa. At a very young age Sune was very passionate about photography. He completed several courses, then moved to Paris as a photographer predominately focusing on fashion. Sune’s has distinctive style that is particularly influenced by film. The use of narrative and his approach to lighting and location are central to his work.

Sune’s is a diverse photographer with excellent vision within Beauty, Womenswear and Menswear. Sune has developed and crafted a strong signature style, which has allowed him to work with such clients as Harrods, Chanel, Net-a-Porter, Michael Kors, Levi’s, Monsoon, Carven, Lancome, HOM, Reebok, Eleven Paris and great publications such as The Telegraph, Rollacoaster, Nordic Man, Dansk, L’Officiel, L’uomo Vogue and Marie Claire, Elle and Streets.

Sune now divides his time between London, Paris and Denmark and is established as one of the most exciting and prolific photographers that London has had the pleasure of meeting.

Sean Ellis

Oscar-nominated® director Sean Ellis started taking pictures when he was 11.  Trained as a still life photographer, Sean moved to London from Brighton in 1994. Applying his knowledge of the still life and using it to light fashion models, Sean became one of the new generation of fashion photographers who were most sought-after in the late nineties.

Sean has realised photographic campaigns for Davidoff, Patrick Cox, Pirelli, Landrover, Nina Ricci, Plein Sud, Christian Dior, John Galliano, Kenneth Cole and Hugo Boss to name a few. His work with magazines such as i-D, The Face, Visionaire, GQ, Arena, Arena Homme Plus, Dazed and Confused, Numero and Vogue has often pushed the darker side of fashion photography with a style that has been described as ‘cinematic’.This led to a crossover with moving film and a string of acclaimed music videos followed.

He has directed commercials for Jean Paul Gaultier, Cartier, Davidoff, Land Rover, Rimmel, 02, EA Games, Nike, H&M, Samsung, Roberto Cavalli and Hugo Boss.

Sean has collaborated with fellow director, David Lynch on a series of fashion images that were published in Harper’s Bazaar.

‘A photograph everyday for a year’ was the idea behind his first published book ‘365 – A Year in Fashion’ which includes commercial and personal work taken during 1999.

His Second published book ‘Kubrick the Dog’ (2010) is based upon portraits which he took during the life of his beautiful companion Kubrick.

Sean has written and directed three short films. LEFT TURN (2001), a dark psychological horror film. CASHBACK (2004), a visually rich black comedy which won the top award at over fifteen international film festivals, including the prestigious Chicago and Tribeca Film Festivals and was also nominated for a 2006 Academy Award®. His most recent short VOYAGE D’AFFAIRES (2008), has been shown at the Hamptons Film Festival, the Chicago Film Festival and was nominated for a 2008 British Academy of Film and Television (BAFTA) award and won best film at the 2010 Fuji Short Film competition.

His first feature film was born from the short film of the same name, CASHBACK (2006), which includes the original short film within its running time. This quirky romantic comedy was picked up by French major Gaumont, who launched it at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. The film enjoyed its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival 2006 and its European and US Premieres at the San Sebastian Film Festival 2006 and AFI Fest 2006 in Los Angeles. It was released by Gaumont in France in January 2007 and around the world throughout 2007 and 2008 to much critical acclaim.

Sean’s second feature film, the psychological thriller, THE BRØKEN (2008), stars Lena Headey (300, The Sarah Connor Chronicles) and Oscar nominated actor Richard Jenkins (The Visitor, Burn After Reading) and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2008. It enjoyed its UK release on January 30th 2009.

His third feature film  METRO MANILA (2012) starring Jake Macapagal and Althea Vega, won Best Film, Best Director and Best Achievement in Production at 2013 BIFAs and also picked up The Audience Award for World Cinema at Sundance Film Festival 2013. Set in the Philippines, this is a harrowing portrayal of a family’s struggle to build a better life for themselves.

Sean’s fourth feature film ANTHROPOID (2016) is an epic war film starring Cillian Murphy, Jamie Dornan and Toby Jones. It tells the story of Operation Anthropoid, the World War II assassination of Reinhard Heydrich by exile soldiers on 27 May 1942. It was released 12 August 2016 in the United States and 9 September 2016 in the United Kingdom.

Psychological thriller THE CUT (2023) is currently in production.

Sophie Le Gendre

Passionate about images, Sophie is recognised by the fashion photography community as an Artistic Director with innovative talents. Sophie is always in search of a new graphic dimension and she shares with us her universe where resonant breaths sparkle.

Her works, on one hand decorative and on the other transcendental, illuminate our eyes, and without warning, they shake and pierce our intimate memories.

Accustomed to rewards, in France and abroad, Sophie won the prestigious contest  Objectif femmes (2019), the first prize for Photography at the Florence Biennale (2021), as well as an Award of the Art Tour International Magazine of New York City (2021). Her works are regularly published in renowned  magazines such as Open Eye magazine / Elle International / Clam Magazine.

Several exhibitions are scheduled for the next coming months.

Wanda Martin

Wanda is a photographer, director and visual artist based in London. Wanda’s clients include Mr Porter, Matches Fashion, Sony Music, Dior, Burberry, Canon, Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, Atlantic Records and editorials Rollacoaster, Wonderland, Common&Sense, Hunger, Elle UK and others. Wanda is also the Creative Director of Foxes Magazine which is a visually rich magazine which has a punk rock attitude and edge which hasn’t been seen in magazines for far too long!

Wanda is an ambassador for Canon Europe.

Diego Merino

Diego was born and raised in Spain, where he graduated in Film Studies. Whilst working on films and TV commercials as a Camera Assistant, he became fascinated by photography and began to assist leading Spanish photographers. In early 1998, he moved to New York City, where he started working alongside renowned fashion and celebrity photographer Tom Munro as his full time first assistant for over three years. After that time, he started his own independent career.

Almost seven years later, Diego moved to London where he started to build a client list that includes clients GQ, John Lewis, Harrods, Financial Times, Next, Mr Porter, Hackett, Esquire, The Rake, H&M to name a few.

Diego lives in London and Spain.

Daniel Nadel

Daniel bought his first camera when travelling the world at 18 which inspired him to study photography on his return. After leaving college and assisting for 4 years, he nurtured his skills and understanding of photography and started to shoot for well known Australian Designers.

In 2008, a move to London saw Daniel firmly establish himself within the industry and has collaborated with many clients and magazines including Elle UK, Hunger, Net-a-Porter, Wonderland, Topshop, The Observer, Schön!, Amazon, Volt, Flaunt, Tank, Sid,  Adidas, Streets Magazine, Fault and Bershka.

His passion for fashion photography and natural ability to interact with people can be shown in his work. Daniel’s strong ties to his university days are clearly visible with his on going persistence of shooting on film for his personal work DansDarkRoom.net which is a daily feed of one image per day documenting his journey and life around him.

Daniel lives in London.

Nathan Pask

Coming soon!