Aaron Mayes

Curator for Visual Materials, ÐÔÊӽ紫ý Libraries Special Collections
Expertise: Photography, Documentary Photography, Las Vegas Photographic History, Photojournalism, Digitization for Cultural Heritage

Biography

Aaron Mayes is a photographer who documents Southern Nevada, its built and natural environments, and the people who call it home.

He began his career as a photojournalist for the Henderson Home News and Las Vegas Sun, before working as ÐÔÊӽ紫ý’s university photographer documenting life on campus. In his role as curator for visual materials at ÐÔÊӽ紫ý Libraries, Mayes is responsible for growing Special Collections’ archive by creating and collecting photographs, as well as providing technical expertise with digitization efforts.

A fifth-generation Nevadan, Mayes’ work has been seen in many national and international publications and in local media outlets.

Education

  • ÐÔÊӽ紫ý

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Aaron Mayes In The News

Las Vegas Sun
Mike Smith answered his newsroom phone expecting to talk with a reader. That’s commonplace when his editorial cartoons are published in the Las Vegas Sun, as callers either reach out with a compliment or criticism.
K.S.N.V. T.V. News 3
A new chapter. A new beginning.
Yahoo!
A Las Vegas university is making people smile after staging a photo shoot with a figure well-known to students and alumni at one of its empty libraries on campus.
Las Vegas Review Journal
While the ÐÔÊӽ紫ý campus is closed because of coronavirus concerns, nobody is using the Lied Library — save for one dutiful skeleton.

Articles Featuring Aaron Mayes

two women in swimsuits on boat on lake mead
People | May 27, 2026

The Robert Scott Hooper Photograph Collection at ÐÔÊӽ紫ý preserves decades of celebrity portraiture, commercial imagery, and the changing visual culture of Las Vegas. 

Doolittle Soapbox Race from August 1970
Arts and Culture | February 15, 2017

A new photography exhibit at the Historic Westside School showcases the ÐÔÊӽ紫ý University Libraries Special Collections’ Clinton Wright Photograph Collection.