Mikkel Aaland (born 1952) is an award-winning American photographer and is known for work in the early days of digital photography. His documentary photographs have been exhibited in major institutions around the world, including the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, France, and the former Lenin Museum in Prague, Czech Republic. Aaland was born in San Francisco, California and grew up in nearby Livermore.

His Norwegian born father worked as a scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory research facility. Aaland was an Eagle Scout who attended Livermore High school where he was a football star. He graduated from California State University in Chico with a Special Major in Photo-Journalism and, in keeping with his athletics, was an All-American swimmer on the NCAA Division II championship team.

Aaland's first book was Sweat: The Illustrated History and Description of the Finnish Sauna, Russian Bania, Islamic Hammam, Japanese Mushi-buro, Mexican Temescal, and American Indian & Eskimo Sweat Lodge (1978). The book was the culmination of a three-year travel and photo-journalistic tour where Aaland explored the world's various bathing customs. Currently the book is being developed into a PBS TV documentary by Moga/Jacobsen productions.

A landmark moment occurred in 1981 when he interviewed renowned photographer Ansel Adams, who introduced him to digital photography. Interested in this newly emerging technology, Aaland learned the various techniques of taking digital photos and the new equipment and software being sold in that field.

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