Mayes MacDonell is a fine art photographer and printmaker originally from Austin, TX, now living in Miami, FL.

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She works exclusively with analog film and alternative darkroom processes to create prints with a distinctly mid 20th-century feel. The process is intentionally slow.  It can take weeks or even months to get from a single captured frame to a finished print, whether she's working with silver gelatin or experimenting with paper toning and staining. That unhurried timeline isn't a constraint; it's part of the work.

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On any given shoot, you'll find her hauling a Leica or a 4x5 field camera. Back in the darkroom, she's adjusting enlarger lighting and fine-tuning toning techniques until the image feels right;  worn, atmospheric, and rooted in a moment that predates the digital age.

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Her work gravitates toward a handful of recurring subjects: biophilia, water bodies, the neighborhoods and flora of Coconut Grove, hortographic imagery, and a lifelong fascination with biker culture.

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Mayes has trained in darkrooms across the country, learning from master photographers and printers at:

Gowanus Darkroom - Brooklyn, NY

Darkroom & Digital - Miami, FL

Penumbra Foundation - New York, NY