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Trying to find him on campus can be a challenge. He is rarely in his office; he’s more likely to be found teaching students, shooting any sport he can get his lens on, fixing some sort of camera equipment or laughing. Doug Wells has been teaching on Grand View’s campus for the past 10 years, but soon, it will be even harder to find him since Wells retires in a week.

After graduating from Drake University, Wells worked at and eventually owned a black-and-white print film lab. In 1981, he landed a job at The Des Moines Register as a staff photographer. Wells said his favorite part of his career with the Register was traveling to photograph various sporting events such as NCAA tournaments, Super Bowls and even the Olympics.

Wells was often invited to be a guest speaker in photo classes at GV. At age 50, Wells went back to Drake to get his Master’s degree. Right when Wells got out of graduate school, the previous GV photography teacher was retiring, and Wells saw the position as a good fit because things at the Register were changing. 

“I have more leeway and more flexibility to both teach and do my own work than I probably would have at the Register,” Wells said. 

Wells said he enjoys seeing students learn new things, whether it is a new skill, concept or even learning a new way of looking at things.  

“I really like working with young people,” Wells said, “because of the differences in perceptions.” 

Sports photography is Wells’ favorite part of photography. He has been photographing GV’s sporting events for years. It started simply when he noticed his students in extracurricular activities.

“When I started, I noticed that I had students involved in things,” Wells said. “Athletics or drama or extracurricular activities. I would just say, ‘Oh, you have a game today or tonight. How about I just go and take pictures of you?’”

Wells was a track athlete at Drake, and he only has two photos of himself running. He only has those because of some friends that liked photography, and he wanted to do better for his students.

Eventually, Wells’ photos of GV activities caught the eye of the marketing team, and one thing led to another. Wells continues to photograph GV’s sporting events to this day, with soccer being his favorite to shoot.

Wells will be retiring from full-time teaching after this semester. However, he will still be teaching a few intro photography classes next semester. Wells has a few goals for retirement that include visiting the top 10 hamburger places in Iowa; watching more shows on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime, specifically all PBS’s Doc Martin; and reading more books. 

Wells hopes to help students spark an interest in photography, no matter their major, so in the future when they have families, they can take photos of their children just like he did of his students.

Graduation is just a few days away, and seniors are not the only ones excited. 

“I have one highlight every year, and it has been the same for all 10 years, and that is graduation,” Wells said. “I love seeing my students graduate. And I don’t just mean the idea of graduation. I mean actually going and seeing them before graduation and taking their pictures. It is a lot of fun.”