Skip Bolen
Encyclopedia
Skip Bolen is a Southern photographer of musicians, architecture, lifestyle and the culture of New Orleans. Born in Lafayette, Louisiana
, he moved to New Orleans where he began his publishing career as a designer and art director
. After moving to New York City
, he began working at House & Garden
, renamed HG, as Senior Designer in January 1988 with Anna Wintour
and Alexander Liberman
at Condé Nast Publications
. Spending evenings in jazz clubs, he began photographing jazz musicians in New York
and often when he regularly returned to New Orleans. After three years at Condé Nast Publications
in New York City
, he returned to New Orleans to pursue his jazz photography full time. In 1998, he moved to Los Angeles
where he became art director of House of Blues
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
and the Louisiana State Museum
. He is a frequent contributor to JazzTimes
(where he is listed on the masthead) and Down Beat
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
). Bolen was the unit still photographer
for Season 1 of K-Ville
, the Fox Broadcasting Company
show filmed for 11 episodes on location in New Orleans. Bolen was also the unit still photographer
for the pilot episode of HBO's Treme
created by David Simon
and Eric Overmyer
, 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 focuses on the city's musicians and Treme
neighborhood, an important center of African-American and Creole
traditions. Bolen was also the unit still photographer
for HBO's "True Blood
" Season Two finale with Anna Paquin
and Stephen Moyer
when they were shooting in Baton Rouge, LA. Bolen was also the unit still photographer
for Season 1 and Season 2 of TNT's "Memphis Beat
" 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
. He is currently represented by Stella Jones Gallery in New Orleans.
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
, he moved to New Orleans where he began his publishing career as a designer and art director
Art director
The art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
. After moving to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, he began working at House & Garden
House & Garden (magazine)
House & Garden was an American shelter magazine published by Condé Nast Publications that focused on interior design, entertaining, and gardening....
, renamed HG, as Senior Designer in January 1988 with Anna Wintour
Anna Wintour
Anna Wintour, OBE is the British-born editor-in-chief of American Vogue, a position she has held since 1988. With her trademark pageboy bob haircut and sunglasses, Wintour has become an institution throughout the fashion world, widely praised for her eye for fashion trends and her support for...
and Alexander Liberman
Alexander Liberman
Alexander Semeonovitch Liberman was a Russian-American magazine editor, publisher, painter, photographer, and sculptor. He held senior artistic positions during his 32 years at Condé Nast Publications.-Biography:When his father took a post advising the Soviet government, the family moved to Moscow...
at Condé Nast Publications
Condé Nast Publications
Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications, is a magazine publisher. In the U.S., it produces 18 consumer magazines, including Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Vogue, as well as four business-to-business publications, 27 websites, and more than 50 apps...
. Spending evenings in jazz clubs, he began photographing jazz musicians in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and often when he regularly returned to New Orleans. After three years at Condé Nast Publications
Condé Nast Publications
Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications, is a magazine publisher. In the U.S., it produces 18 consumer magazines, including Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Vogue, as well as four business-to-business publications, 27 websites, and more than 50 apps...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, he returned to New Orleans to pursue his jazz photography full time. In 1998, he moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
where he became art director of House of Blues
House of Blues
House of Blues is a chain of 13 live music concert halls and restaurants in major markets throughout the United States. House of Blues first location was in Cambridge's Harvard Square. It was opened in 1992 by Isaac Tigrett, co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, star of The Blues Brothers...
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
Jazz Bakery
The Jazz Bakery is a jazz club in the former Helms Bakery on Helms Avenue off Venice Boulevard in Culver City, California. It was established as a not-for-profit company by jazz vocalist Ruth Price, others, including Maurice Hall co-founded the bakery. It is based on an informal concert hall model...
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
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
, 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
Ogden Museum of Southern Art
The Ogden Museum of Southern Art is located in New Orleans, within the Central Business District adjacent to Lee Circle. It is associated with the University of New Orleans...
and the Louisiana State Museum
Louisiana State Museum
The Louisiana State Museum , founded in New Orleans in 1906 and still headquartered there, is a complex of National Historic Landmarks housing thousands of artifacts and works of art reflecting Louisiana's legacy of historic events and cultural diversity....
. He is a frequent contributor to JazzTimes
JazzTimes
JazzTimes is a magazine that dates back to Radio Free Jazz, a publication founded in 1970 by Ira Sabin when he was operating a record store in Washington, DC. It was originally a newsletter designed to update shoppers on the latest jazz releases and provide jazz radio programmers with a means of...
(where he is listed on the masthead) and Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
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
Getty Images
Getty Images, Inc. is a stock photo agency, based in Seattle, Washington, USA. It is a supplier of stock images for business and consumers with an archive of 80 million still images and illustrations and more than 50,000 hours of stock film footage...
and Wireimage.
Skip Bolen is a still photographer and currently a member of IATSE Local 600 (International Cinematographers Guild
International Cinematographers Guild
About the International Cinematographers Guild:The International Cinematographers Guild represents approximately 6,000 members who work throughout the United States, Canada and the rest of the world in film and television as Directors of Photography, Camera Operators, Visual Effects Supervisors,...
). Bolen was the unit still photographer
Unit still photographer
A unit still photographer or simply, stills photographer is a person who creates still photographic images specifically intended for use in the marketing and publicity of feature films in the motion picture industry and network television productions....
for Season 1 of K-Ville
K-Ville (TV series)
K-Ville is an American television drama created and executive produced by Jonathan Lisco, centering on policing New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina...
, the Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
show filmed for 11 episodes on location in New Orleans. Bolen was also the unit still photographer
Unit still photographer
A unit still photographer or simply, stills photographer is a person who creates still photographic images specifically intended for use in the marketing and publicity of feature films in the motion picture industry and network television productions....
for the pilot episode of HBO's Treme
Treme (TV series)
Treme is an American television drama series created by David Simon and Eric Overmyer that premiered on April 11, 2010 on HBO. It takes its name from Tremé, a neighborhood of New Orleans...
created by David Simon
David Simon
David Simon is an American author, journalist, and a writer/producer of television series. He worked for the Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years. He wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood with Ed Burns...
and Eric Overmyer
Eric Overmyer
Eric Overmyer is a 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, and Treme.-Biography:...
, 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 focuses on the city's musicians and Treme
Treme
Tremé is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are Esplanade Avenue to the north, North Rampart Street to the east, St. Louis Street to the south and North Broad Street to the west...
neighborhood, an important center of African-American and Creole
Creole peoples
The term Creole and its cognates in other languages — such as crioulo, criollo, créole, kriolu, criol, kreyol, kreol, kriulo, kriol, krio, etc. — have been applied to people in different countries and epochs, with rather different meanings...
traditions. Bolen was also the unit still photographer
Unit still photographer
A unit still photographer or simply, stills photographer is a person who creates still photographic images specifically intended for use in the marketing and publicity of feature films in the motion picture industry and network television productions....
for HBO's "True Blood
True Blood
True Blood is an American television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris, detailing the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional, small town in the state of Louisiana...
" Season Two finale with Anna Paquin
Anna Paquin
Anna Helene Paquin is a Canadian-born New Zealand actress. Paquin's first critically successful film was The Piano, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1994 at the age of 11 – the second youngest winner in history...
and Stephen Moyer
Stephen Moyer
Stephen Moyer is an English actor who has starred as vampire Bill Compton in the HBO series True Blood since 2008.-Early life and career:Moyer was born in Brentwood, Essex...
when they were shooting in Baton Rouge, LA. Bolen was also the unit still photographer
Unit still photographer
A unit still photographer or simply, stills photographer is a person who creates still photographic images specifically intended for use in the marketing and publicity of feature films in the motion picture industry and network television productions....
for Season 1 and Season 2 of TNT's "Memphis Beat
Memphis Beat
Memphis Beat is an American drama series that debuted on TNT on June 22, 2010 and ended on August 16, 2011. Memphis Beat was officially canceled on October 14, 2011.-Overview:...
" 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
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 agency/PR executive.- Post-Katrina :After Hurricane...
. He is currently represented by Stella Jones Gallery in New Orleans.