Richard Ellis grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida. He attended the Southern Methodist University in 1978, and the George Washington University from 1979–1982.
He began his professional career in 1979 working as a freelance photographer for United Press International in Washington, DC. In 1984, he joined Reuters, the British based global news service, as a staff photographer in Hong Kong covering the People's Power Revolution in the Philippines and dozens of stories throughout Asia. In 1986, he became chief photographer for South Asia based in New Delhi covering major news throughout the region, including the Soviet war in Afghanistan; he was the first western photographer allowed into Kabul. Ellis went to China for the Tiananmen protests. He hid on the first public bus allowed into the square following the massacre, which allowed him to provide the first pictures of the aftermath. Posted to China in 1989, he continued to cover post-Tiananmen China and was the last foreign correspondent to see Deng Xiaoping alive. He was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize as part of the Reuters team covering Tiananmen.
In 1991, Ellis, assigned to cover the first Gulf War, worked outside the controlled news pool traveling the desert of Saudi Arabia, providing uncensored images. He was nominated for the Pulitzer a second time as part of the Reuters coverage during the war.
Ellis left Reuters in 1994 after exposing faked pictures shot by Russian photographers for an American news magazine. Returning to Washington, DC, in 1994, he worked as a freelance photographer for the Sygma News Agency, covering the White House and Washington, DC. While working in Washington, Ellis started the first Internet-based news photo agency called Newsmakers in 1995. In 1999, Newsmakers was acquired by Getty Images and became the foundation of the Getty Images News Service, which Ellis ran until 2001. Ellis continued with Getty Images in a variety of roles becoming Senior Vice President of Business Development in 2004. Ellis left Getty Images in 2007 and is currently working as a photographer and consultant to the photo industry.
His photographic work has been published in most major magazines and newspapers worldwide. He currently lives with his wife and two daughters in Charleston, South Carolina.