Lou Jones is one of Boston's most diverse & inspiring commercial & fine art photographers, known for his courage, creative skill & humanity. He specializes in photoillustration & location photography for corporate, advertising & editorial clients like:

	IBM	Major League Baseball	Federal Express
	Peugeot	Museum of Fine Arts	Paris Match
	KLM	National Geographic	People Magazine
	Nike	Price Waterhouse	Aetna

Jones' assignments have taken him often to Europe, South America, Africa, the Far East & 47 of 50 States. He has been on location at NASA, Boeing, Universal Studios, British Telecom, Mitsubishi & 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 & guerrillas in Central America, flying upside down with aerobatic pilots, skulking around opium dens in Singapore, sailing on ancient tall ships & gigantic aircraft carriers & 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 & rebel leaders. The end of the decade had him witnessing Perestroika & 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 calendars through 2006.

Lou Jones is past president of the New England chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers & was a long time member of the ASMP National Board of Directors. He is one of the charter members of the Advertising Photographers of America. Jones is on the board of directors of the Photographic Resource Center in Boston & the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, Massachusetts. Recently he was made codirector of photography at the Center for Digital Imaging Arts in Waltham, Massachusetts. He was included in the premier edition of Who's Who in Advertising.

Lou Jones' images have been exhibited in galleries throughout the world, such as, the Smithsonian & Corcoran Galleries in Washington, DC, Polaroid Gallery, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, DeCordova Museum in Massachusetts, Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York City, Detroit Institute of Arts & Feuerwagner in Austria. He has photographs in the collections of such institutions as the Fogg Museum (Harvard), Wellesley College, Middle Tennessee State University & University of Texas. In 2000 the International Photographic Council (United Nations) presented him with their highest award & the Boston Photography Collaborative gave him their CONTACT award.

In 1997, Jones published his first book, Final Exposure: Portraits from Death Row, which chronicled his six year odyssey documenting men & women on death rows in the USA & it was republished in the fall of 2002. For this Jones received the Ehrmann Award from the Massachusetts Citizens against the Death Penalty. His second book travel+PHOTOGRAPHY: off the charts comes out in 2006.

Profile in QUALITY TIMES magazine:
by Carol Bolling

A Champion Among Us

February is Black History Month, the time when we formally celebrate the many contributions that African Americans have made in this country. What better time to also look at the contributions that African Americans have made locally? For instance, Martin Luther King, probably the most revered African American in our history, spent a significant amount of time in our area studying for his doctorate degree at Boston University. Additionally, the Commonwealth can proudly claim as residents Ed Brooke, the first African American US Senator since reconstruction; and Crispus Attucks, the first man to die in the revolutionary war, and Bostonian Roland Hayes, who was the first black man to sing with an American symphony orchestra.
In celebrating Black History Month, we traditionally look at heroes and champions of the past to remind us of the richness of the Commonwealth's black history. However, it is also important to recognize that there are heroes and champions who are living and breathing among us every day. In addition to numerous sports and media figures who may come to mind, let me add the name of a local artist whose accomplishments ensure that he, too,will some day take his place in the annals of our history.

A Passion and A Purpose

Lou Jones is one of Boston's most diverse commercial and art photographers.
A prolific, award-winning artist, he specializes in photo illustration and location photography, which has taken him to 45 of the 50 states, Europe,Central and South America, Africa and Asia. His clients are as diverse as the images he mirrors; they include National Geographic, Fortune Magazine,NASA, Boeing and Nike, among many others.
Since discovering his interest in photography in 1971, Jones has chronicled many of the world's most extraordinary moments. He has traveled from the boardrooms of the Pacific Rim to the historic Million Man March, to seven Olympic Games and into the depths of the controversies in Central America. His incredible career follows not only the history of our community, but the history of the world.
During the 1980s, he spent much of his time with Congressional delegations photographing government, military and guerrilla leaders. The end of the decade brought a photo essay from Jones on Perestroika and the fall of the of the Berlin Wall. In 1990, he turned his camera once again to Boston where the Museum of Afro-American History commissioned Jones to document African American women of success and influence. The work, entitled Sojourner's Daughters, was highly acclaimed by the fine art community.

The Man Behind The Camera

Lou Jones is heralded by those who know him as a man who not only works hard at his trade (he manages his vast studio in addition to his photography), but also handles himself with pride and true professionalism.He is described as a man who brings a passion and a humility to his work,mixing these attributes with an extraordinary talent as he chronicles the world around him. One friend describes him as "a man of moral character,incredible skill, and he is a genuine human being."
It is a benefit to all of us, black or white, to have such a brilliant talent available to us, showing us the world through the eyes of an understanding and compassionate artist. So during Black History Month herein Massachusetts, it is appropriate for us to say to Lou Jones...for your courage, your creative skill and your humanity, we are glad to have you with us as a black man and as an artist to share with us your unique vision. You are, in our eyes, truly a champion among us.

January/February 1997
reprinted by permission