December 2025: EXOTICA - BERHANU WELLS

“Hands Off”,

Opening Thursday, December 4, 7:30-9:30 pm.
Capitol Hill Artwalk: Thursday December 11, 5-9pm
(show runs through 1/3/2026)

Solo photography exhibit: a view into tenderness of the human condition, its shades and sounds.

"I was born in Boston and now work in Seattle, but my photographic journey began in a small, darkroom, where I learned to coax images into being by hand. With a 50mm lens, I wandered city streets, drawn to the quiet exchanges that reveal who we are — laughter, struggle, tenderness, joy.

For years, I rarely saw photographers who looked like me. That absence dimmed my early passion. It returned years later with the birth of my child, when the camera again became a way to honor people, memory, and connection. Street photography evolved into portraiture, allowing me to craft intentional narratives around the human experience.

Assignments in Ethiopia deepened my practice. In communities where cameras were met with caution, I learned that photography begins with permission — an act of trust. When trust was earned, the images became gifts shared, not taken.

Today, my portraits are collaborations. I see the people I photograph as storytellers. Through light, conversation, and presence, I strive to reveal dignity, history, and truth — to carry the story from my heart, through my hands, into the gaze of the viewer." -- Berhanu Wells

About Berhanu:
Berhanu is also currently presented by the Seattle Art Museum Gallery. 

Instagram: @berhanuimages
Website: BerhanuImages.com