Wayne Martin Belger has spent more than three decades combining photography with the meticulous craft of camera making. His work has appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, National Geographic, ELLE, Juxtapoz, and numerous other publications, and since 2018 he has frequently worked as a photojournalist for Smithsonian Magazine.
A trained machinist, Belger hand-builds specialized analog cameras for his long-term documentary and fine art projects, exploring themes including mortality, religion, Indigenous rights, and migration. His photographs are held in museum collections across the United States and private collections worldwide.
Belger brings the same precision and craftsmanship to platinum/palladium printing, embracing its tactile, chemical, and beautifully unpredictable nature. He is based in Tucson, Arizona, where he operates his studio from a repurposed 1940s diaper-washing facility.