Lou Jones

Lou Jones' eclectic career has evolved from commercial to the personal. It has spanned every format, film type, artistic movement and technological change. He maintains a studio in Boston, Massachusetts and has photographed for Fortune 500 corporations, international companies and local small businesses including Federal Express, Nike and the Barr Foundation; completed assignments for magazines and publishers all over the world such as Time/Life, National Geographic and Paris Match; initiated long term projects on the civil wars in Central America, death row, Olympics Games, and pregnancy; and published multiple books. Jones' assignments have taken him to over 50 countries in Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia, and 48 of 50 States. He has been on location at NASA, Boeing, Universal Studios, British Telecom, Mitsubishi and Saab.

Raised in Washington, DC, Jones graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with degrees in Physics. But soon after embarked on a career that would have him taking pictures of headhunters in Borneo and guerrillas in Central America, flying upside down with aerobatic pilots, skulking around opium dens in Singapore, sailing on ancient tall ships and gigantic aircraft carriers and being incarcerated in more foreign jails than can be remembered. He has also photographed twelve successive Olympic Games.

He is equally well known for his moving social commentaries. During the 1980s much time was spent on CODELs (COngressional DELegations) documenting government, military and rebel leaders. The end of the decade had him witnessing Perestroika and the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1990, the Museum of Afro-American History commissioned Jones to honor women with "Sojourner's Daughters," an exhibition highly recognized by the community. This project led Aetna to hire Jones to photograph their annual African American History Calendar through 2013.

For his photography, Jones has been awarded many accolades from organizations like Communication Arts Magazine, Art Directors Club of Boston, Travel Photographer of the Year and International Photographic Council (United Nations). Nikon recognizes Jones as a "Legend Behind the Lens" and Lowepro has honored him as a "Champion". Because of his connection with Sports Illustrated and his many years photographing the Olympics, Lou Jones recently starred in an episode of the popular reality television show The Moment hosted by Kurt Warner on the USA Network. For the full episode, visit http://www.usanetwork.com/videos/The%20Moment/vid:2638636.

Jones has exhibited his eclectic imagery in colleges and schools such as Trinity College, Texas Tech University and New England College, and in collections at the Smithsonian Institution, DeCordova Museum and the African American Museum in Philadelphia. His photography is owned by various collections including the Fogg Museum, Wellesley College and the University of Texas.

Jones has served on the boards of directors of numerous photographic associations, societies, and museums. He has been president of the New England chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), a member of the ASMP National Board of Directors, and a board of directors of the Photographic Resource Center, Boston, Massachusetts. He is a charter member of the Advertising Photographers of America (APA) and co-founder of CDIA (Center for Digital Imaging Arts), Boston, Massachusetts. He currently sits on the board of directors of the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, Massachusetts.

In addition, Jones lectures and teaches workshops all over the world, including at the PhotoPlus Expo in New York City, the George Eastman (Kodak) House, the Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University, New England Camera Club Council’s annual conference, and Estúdio Brasil in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The first book Jones published, Final Exposure: Portraits from Death Row, earned Jones the Ehrmann Award from Massachusetts Citizens Against the Death Penalty. Since then, he has published numerous other books including Travel+Photography: Off the Charts and Speedlights and Speedlites: Creative Flash Photography at Lightspeed.

Jones' work has remained relevant, progressive and current throughout. He has mentored dozens of aspiring artists and documentary photographers. He has been an advocate for artist's business, legal and historical rights, and visual literacy in all corners of our daily lives.