Wayne Davis
PHOTOGRAPHY


Wayne Davis is a photographer based out of Minneapolis, MN with over 33 years of professional experience. Whether shooting commercial product, motor sports, portraiture, nature or sports-action, Wayne brings a high level of skill and passion for his work to every job and every image. Wayne is known for his tireless work ethic and a degree of integrity and professionalism that is second to none.
Wayne's photos have been featured in ESPN Magazine, Motocross Action, Dirt Wheels, American Rider, Woman Rider, Big Twin, Snowweek, Snowmobile, Snow Goer, ATV Magazine and Bow Hunter to name a few. Wayne's long time clients include Polaris, Yamaha, Ski Doo, Arctic Cat, BRP and Affinity Media.
In September 2011 Wayne was honored to be inducted into the "International Snowmobile Hall of Fame" for his contribution to the development of the sport through his imagery. His photo is on display at the World Snowmobile Headquarters in Eagle River, Wisconsin. Wayne has been knocked down, run over, caught in avalanches, lost in whiteouts and suffered frozen fingers, but the passion and enthusiasm he developed for the sport as a child continues. Wayne was recently referred to as "an adventurous icon in the world of motor sports" by Plymouth Magazine.
Wayne Davis is an "adventurous icon in the world of motor sports". Check out the article in Plymouth Magazine here!
As a young boy, Wayne stood many times on a box at the sink in the garage of his uncle's Polaris dealership washing his hands and staring at the poster taped to the wall above. It was a poster of Alan Hetteen beside the first snowmobile he, his brother Edgar Hetteen, and brother-in-law David Johnson ever created. Edgar, Alan & David were the founders of Polaris. At the time, Wayne thought the man in the photo was Edgar himself and he dreamed about what Edgar must have seen in 1960 on that first 3 week, 1,200-mile trek he took with a small team across the Alaskan wilderness. The trip was from Bethel to Fairbanks to prove snowmobiles were reliable. Little did Wayne know that years later in 2000, he would be asked to photograph a 900 mile journey through Alaska with Edgar Hetteen himself - a recreation of the 1960 snowmobile trek through Alaska. And he never dreamed that he would be photographing iconic images for Polaris, Yamaha, Ski Doo, Arctic Cat, BRP & his many other clients, and that he would be honored to be the youngest person ever inducted into the International Snowmobile Hall of Fame.
Wayne was initially drawn to photography because his dad used to take pictures with a polaroid camera for the local high school year book and for family events, and Wayne enjoyed being able to look back at the images and relive those memories. When he was old enough, Wayne worked an entire summer in a gladiola flower field crawling on his hands and knees planting bulbs for 10 cents an hour to make 20.00 to buy a Polaroid Swinger camera for 19.99. He then began taking pictures himself, which included snow mobile trips with his uncle, things for school, etc.
After graduating high school, Wayne became an engineer and because of his love of motor sports, he also became a professional snowmobile, go-kart and motorcycle racer. But when he broke both wrists in a racing accident in 1980, he picked up one of his brothers cameras, read books to learn how to use it and started taking pictures of his friends who were racers. When Yamaha saw some of his images and asked if they could buy them, Waynes life was changed forever.













