Ohio-born and Ohio-based humanist and post-documentary photographer Michael Tittel (1969) has spent his life revering and revealing uniqueness and beauty in the overlooked, as reflected in his photography, songwriting, design, and teaching. His photographic portraiture and landscape work are grounded in the felt responsibility that meaningful photographs should transcend the everyday and speak to us in ways words cannot. His formal commitment to lens-based photography and traditional analog materials allows him to create poetic, believable fictions in a medium that continues to prove its relevance in making the world a better place.

Michael received a BFA in Photography from Ohio University in 1992 and, following a 21-year career in advertising and branding, is now a full-time professor at Northern Kentucky University’s School of the Arts.

His photographic work has been recognized in publications including Leica Magazine, Saveur, and Condé Nast Traveler, as well as through solo and group exhibitions and his selection as the recipient of the 2024 Communication Arts Photography Annual Best of Show. His work is represented in public, corporate, and private collections.

CV
2022 Full-time Associate Professor at Northern Kentucky University, School of the Arts
2010-2022 Executive Creative Director at gyro, global ideas shop
1999-2010 Designer, Creative Director, SVP of Digital Creative
1990-1998 Worked as a commercial photographer in the fashion industry
1996 Touring musician with the Loud Family, Alias Records
1992 BFA Photography, Minor in English, Ohio University
1990/1992 Attended Kodak School of Digital Imaging, Camden, Maine
1988 Zone VI Workshops, Putney, Vermont with Fred Picker

Exhibits
2026 FOTOFOCUS September 2026 Milestones: Finding Our Way, featuring 12 new works
2024 FOTOFOCUS 2024 Solo Show, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati Ohio, “All I've sung and have yet to sing”
2022 FOTOFOCUS Selected Portrait Artist “Acknowledge Reveal Disclose”
2018 FOTOFOCUS, Washington Park Art, “Timescapes: Earth's Open Archive.” Cincinnati, Ohio
2018 FOTOFOCUS Visual collaboration with Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra performing “Dreamland”
2016 FRESH+FLASH+PHOTOGRAPHIC Group Show, Madison Indianna, Indiana University J. Irwin Miller Gallery

Collections
2015 Crusade For Art Featured Photographer Fall 2015 Collection
1992 Ohio University Permanent Photography Collection

Publications
2024 Saveur Magazine, ISSUE 202 Spring
2023 Communication Arts Magazine 65th Photography Annual 2023, Award of Excellence, Best of Show
2023 “Coastal” Photo Books Now
2022 Condé Nast Traveler
2021-2022 Edible Ohio Valley
2016 Leica Camera Blog “Outsider Insider”
2015 Ain't Bad Volume 3 Number 1, From Here On
2015 Butter Books, Outsider Inside Limited Edition Printed Zine 
2014 ISP International Street Photography Magazine
2014 ThisisPaper Magazine
2014 Ain't Bad Magazine Online
2014 Street Photographer Blog
2013 Lenscratch Fine Art Photography Daily
2013 aCurator Blog
2013 F-stop Magazine Issue #59 True/False
2013 Urbanautica Bye Bye 2012
2013 Urbanautica Fauna