Shekenia Mann

Shekenia Mann, a native Detroiter, integrates her love of photography with the knowledge and insight she has gained from years of professional practice as a social worker and educator. The result is a powerful repertory of photographs reflecting her remarkable sensibility as an artist. Her work includes a broad range of subjects, including intimate portraits, cityscapes, and the beauty of nature. Ms. Mann earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Social Work from Wayne State University, and a Master’s Degree in Special Education from the University of Detroit Mercy.  Additionally, she studied photography at the Sundance Photographic Workshop in Utah, and the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.   

For Ms. Mann, photography is the art of capturing the energy and beauty of subjects, and rendering that connection palpable to others. That is her passion. An avid traveler, she has been inspired by the lives and stories of people she has encountered in her journeys around the United States and abroad -- in Africa, Italy and Mexico. Her travel explorations have yielded an extraordinary archive of photographs of land and people’s interactions with the natural environment.  Her impressive photos of Detroit landmarks are prominently displayed at various locations within Metropolitan Detroit, including the Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Ms. Mann’s work has been exhibited locally and nationally. Her photos have been published in “Out of Africa,” Michigan Lawyers Weekly, Sundance Photographic Workshop, Who’s Who in Black Detroit, The Detroit Free Press, The Michigan Chronicle, The News Herald, Yoga Journal and Urban Aging News.