Stephen Bivens is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He holds a BA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and is a self-taught photographer who prefers to work with 35mm film. A teaching artist with the Cleveland Print Room, Bivens instructs students in Cleveland middle and high schools on shooting with film. He is Photographer in Residence for Twelve Literary Arts, is a 2018 Cleveland Arts Prize Verge Fellowship winner and in 2016 received a Ballot Box Project award through the Kresge Foundation and ArtPlace America. He exhibits regularly in the Waterloo Arts District.
Follow on Instagram: @biv
“Serving as a Cleveland 20/20 photographer has allowed me to look at the city through different eyes. I have attended and participated in many events and activities for the first time. I have explored neighborhoods, history and architecture in new ways. An added benefit is the expansion of my professional network and formation of new friendships. My hope is that the images I capture communicate the genuine grit and determination of the city as a whole–and of those who live in it. There is history hidden throughout the city’s neighborhoods. I learned a great deal and now have a deeper commitment to this community. I find myself looking at my surroundings, including my own neighborhood, with a 20/20 perspective.”
