Born 1963 in Sunderland, and educated in one of the town’s large comprehensive schools. Paul Maven first developed an interest in photography via his involvement with the Sunderland Musicians Collective - a self-help group for unemployed musicians formed in early 1980. Maven attended a short course in black and white photography and his engagement has grown steadily over the years.

He is particularly interested in the discrepancies of ‘change’ – whether physical, social, psychological or cultural. Maven’s work often looks at the shifts in meaning that have occurred during 20 years of post-industrialisation. This manifests as a type of ‘utopic cosmetic surgery’ upon the lived environment. Maven scrapes away this makeup allowing us to peer beneath the veneer.