He was born and raised in Alabama, and he received his BS from the University of Alabama in 1971. Although he harbored a passion for photography, he put it aside to pursue a career with his father's company. In 1999 he left the family business to return to photography full-time. Since then, Mendel's photographs have been included in various solo and group exhibitions throughout New Mexico and Alabama. Darius Himes is a founding member and Acquiring Editor of Radius Books, a non-profit, Santa Fe-based art book publisher created in 2007. Prior to that he was the Editor of photo-eye Booklist, a quarterly magazine devoted to photography books. He is also a lecturer, consultant, educator, and writer, having contributed to Aperture, Blind Spot, Bookforum, BOMB, PDN, and American Photo.