Marvin Silver was formally trained at Art Center, but claims that photographing Los Angeles artists in 60s, and being exposed to their experimental and conceptual ways of thinking, was his greatest education. In the early 60s, Silver worked as a freelance photographer for art publications, and soon formed friendships with artists and loaned out his darkroom to Wallace Berman and George Herms.
His images of artists such as Josef Albers, Robert Irwin, Billy Al Bengston, Wallace Berman, Sam Francis, and Edward Kienholz have been featured in catalogs and publications from the Museum of Modern Art, J. Paul Getty Museum, Hirshhorn Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Walker Art Center, The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, and Merce Cunningham Trust. Silver’s photography is represented by the Craig Krull Gallery in Santa Monica, California.