Skip Bolen is a Southern

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

of musicians, architecture, lifestyle and the culture of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. Born in Lafayette, Louisiana, he moved to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

where he began his publishing career as a designer and art director. After moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, he began working at '' House & Garden,'' renamed ''HG,'' as Senior Designer in January 1988 with

Anna Wintour Dame Anna Wintour (; born 3 November 1949) is a British journalist based in New York City who has served as editor-in-Chief of ''Vogue'' since 1988 and Global Chief Content Officer for Condé Nast since 2020; she is also the artistic directo ...

and

Alexander Liberman Alexander Semeonovitch Liberman (September 4, 1912 – November 19, 1999) was a Ukrainian-American magazine editor, publisher, painter, photographer, and sculptor. He held senior artistic positions during his 32 years at Condé Nast Publicati ...

at Condé Nast Publications. Spending evenings in jazz clubs, he began photographing jazz musicians in

and often when he regularly returned to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. After three years at Condé Nast Publications in

, he returned to New Orleans to pursue his jazz photography full-time. In 1998, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

where he became art director of

House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers''. The first location opened at Ha ...

for seven years while photographing at night and weekends. He continued photographing jazz musicians and had his first major solo exhibition at the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles on August 9, 2002. On July 4, 2006, he returned to New Orleans to pursue photography full-time documenting the recovery and rebuilding of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina, documenting the jazz scene, night-time photography and other photographic projects. His black-and-white photographic images of jazz musicians are often shot only in natural light in jazz clubs, jazz festivals and concerts. Prominent examples of his jazz photography are in the collections of the

Ogden Museum of Southern Art The Ogden Museum of Southern Art is located in the Warehouse Arts District of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1999, and in Stephen Goldring Hall at 925 Camp Street since 2003. The building The Ogden consists of two main buildin ...

and the

Louisiana State Museum The Louisiana State Museum (LSM), founded in New Orleans in 1906, is a statewide system of National Historic Landmarks and modern structures across Louisiana, housing thousands of artifacts and works of art reflecting Louisiana's legacy of historic ...

. He is a frequent contributor to ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growt ...

'' (where he is listed on the masthead) and ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' magazine. Other works include an architectural project that capture the romance and nostalgia of vintage signs, landmarks, and other points of interest shot in and around New York, Los Angeles, and his hometown of New Orleans. He frequently photographs celebrities and high-profile events for Getty Images and Wireimage. Skip Bolen is a still photographer and currently a member of IATSE Local 600 (

International Cinematographers Guild The International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE Local 600) represents approximately 8,400 members who work throughout the United States, Canada and the rest of the world in film and television as Directors of Photography, Camera Operators, Came ...

). Bolen was the

unit still photographer A unit still photographer, or simply a still photographer, is a person who creates film stills, still photographic images specifically intended for use in the marketing and publicity of feature films in the motion picture industry and network t ...

for Season 1 of '' K-Ville'', the

Fox Broadcasting Company The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an Television in the United States, American Commercial broadcasting, commercial terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by Fox C ...

show filmed for 11 episodes on location in New Orleans. Bolen was also the

for the pilot episode of HBO's '' Treme'' created by

David Simon David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work on '' The Wire'' (2002–08). He worked for '' The Baltimore Sun'' City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote '' H ...

and

Eric Overmyer Eric Ellis Overmyer (born September 25, 1951) is an American writer and producer. He has written and/or produced numerous TV shows, including ''St. Elsewhere'', '' Homicide: Life on the Street'', ''Law & Order'', ''The Wire'', ''New Amsterdam'', ...

, a New Orleans-set drama scheduled to premiere in April 2010. The original HBO series is about New Orleanians, their unique culture and community, and ongoing efforts to recover from Katrina. The

TV drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-ge ...

focuses on the city's musicians and

Tremé Tremé ( ) is a neighborhood in New Orleans, Louisiana. "Tremé" is often rendered as Treme, and the neighborhood is sometimes called by its more formal French name, Faubourg Tremé; it is listed in the New Orleans City Planning Districts as Trem ...

neighborhood, an important center of

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

and Creole traditions. Bolen was also the

for HBO's "

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on '' The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development. The ser ...

" Season Two finale with

Anna Paquin Anna Hélène Paquin ( ; born 24 July 1982) is a New Zealand actress. Born in Winnipeg and raised in Wellington, Paquin made her acting debut portraying Flora McGrath in the romantic drama film '' The Piano'' (1993), for which she won the ...

and Stephen Moyer when they were shooting in Baton Rouge, LA. Bolen was also the

for Season 1 and Season 2 of TNT's "

Memphis Beat ''Memphis Beat'' is an American crime comedy-drama television series created by Joshua Harto and Liz W. Garcia that aired on TNT from June 22, 2010 to August 16, 2011, with a total of 20 episodes spanning two seasons. It was produced by Smok ...

" that filmed in New Orleans. He is the photographer for the New Orleans book ''Vieux Carré Chic: The Art of Overindulgent Home Décor'' written by

TJ Fisher TJ Fisher is a Southern author, documentarist and social critic who lives in New Orleans, Louisiana and Palm Beach, Florida. Career Prior to being an author, Fisher had taken jobs as a journalist, gossip columnist, documentary filmmaker and ad ...

.Vieux Carré Chic: The Art of Overindulgent Home Décor
by TJ Fisher. He is currently represented by Stella Jones Gallery in New Orleans.

Notes

External links

*
All About Jazz Gallery
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolen, Skip Living people Artists from New Orleans American photographers Commercial photographers Jazz photographers Year of birth missing (living people) Movie stills photographers