Mayes, Elaine

Elaine Mayes, a visual artist since 1960, majored in painting and art history at Stanford University. She then studied at the San Francisco Art Institute with John Collier, Jr., Richard Diebenkorn, Paul Hassel, Nathan Oliviera, and Minor White. By 1961, Mayes was an independent photojournalist, working for magazines and graphic designers in the San Francisco area. During 1967 and 1968, she was a rock and roll photographer and spent time photographing the "Summer of Love," the Haight Ashbury scene in San Francisco, and the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival--documenting one the most important events in popular music. The photographs she took were ultimately published in a book entitled It Happened In Monterey. Since 1968, Mayes has taught at several universities, including New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she was chair of the photography department until her retirement in 2001. She also spent time at the University of Minnesota in 1968, Hampshire College, and Bard College. Elaine Mayes' photographs have been exhibited around the world and she has received numerous awards for her work.