Bio

When Life ceased to publish as a weekly in 1972, I was out of a job and began freelancing again, working for People and Fortune and other magazines, and eventually segued into doing photography for many of the country’s largest corporations. Today I live near Asheville, North Carolina, and I'm still taking pictures almost every day.

When does a freelancer retire? Well, when people don't pay you to take photographs, you are de facto retired. But never mind - one of my greatest pleasures is to give my photographs to the people in them.

I've always been comfortable making pictures of people, but it usually begins with the person telling me they are not comfortable. Actually they say "I hate being photographed." I agree because I don't like being photographed either. But as the camera clicks, and as we talk, we find a way to make the picture work. So I try to pay attention.

And there's always luck. Never underestimate the Power of Luck in photography....but don't get me started.

Michael Mauney- June, 2025

Client List

Abbott Laboratories, Allstate, American Craft Magazine, Anheuser-Busch, Bally, Baxter-International, Beatrice Foods, Black & Decker, Borg-Warner, Business Week, Cagney-McDowell, Carson, Pierce, & Scott, CBS, Container Corporation, Dollywood, Duke Endowment, Ed Hughes Design, Employees Mutual of Wausau, Evanston Hospital, EXXON, Foundation for The Carolinas, Firestone, Fortune Magazine, Geo Magazine, Gould Inc., Guggenheim Productions, Heizer, Household International, IBM, Kimberly-Clark, LaSalle National Bank, Life Magazine, Eli Lilly, MacMillan Bloedel, McDonalds, Mervil Parlor Design, Money Magazine, National Geographic, New York Times Magazine, Northern Trust, Peat, Marwick & Mitchell, People Magazine, Polaroid, Rockwell International, Sara Lee, SOHIO, Time-Life Books, Walgreens, WICOR.