Mavin Wells

“The impact I want to make in photography is to make images that are different,  but, well worth the view.”– Marvin Wells 

“I was interested in Art before I was old enough to ride public transit alone.  Thanks to my older brother, I was exposed to Chicago’s museums, parks,  architecture, lakefront and great music. Art was everywhere and I was sketching it.  But it was taking me too long. When I picked up a camera, I suddenly realized that  many of the same images I was trying to draw could be created using that tool and  a darkroom. As I honed my own fine arts photography skills, I began working in  the commercial side of the craft. I could function well there, but my heart was not  in it. I wanted to produce prints that expressed MY perceptions.” 

“I consider myself as much of a printmaker as I do a photographer. What’s  different now is that the digital world has opened up a whole new world of  creativity. I alter my photographs with the idea of moving the “untouched image”  toward the surreal, the abstract or the unrecognizable. As an African American  photographer, I face the same issues as other African American artists; not being  acknowledged within the “global” artistic community and being undervalued. The  impact I want to make in photography is to make images that are different, but,  well worth the view. I tend to shy away from “pretty pictures.” I want viewers to  decide, in some cases, for themselves, what they see.”