Lou Jones is a Boston-based photographer. He specializes in advertising and corporate photography. His career ranges from photojournalism covering warfare in Central America and humanitarian causes, to sports photography documenting 13 consecutive Olympics, and to jazz portraits including Miles Davis, Milt Jackson, and Charles Mingus.

Early life and education

Jones was born and raised in Washington, D.C. in 1945. His father, Leon Jones, worked for the USPS in information services. His mother, Landonia Jones, worked for the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. His only sibling, younger sister Leonade Jones, is a private investor and independent financial consultant in the Washington, D.C. area.

Jones graduated from Gonzaga High School and received a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. After working for a summer with NASA as a rocket scientist, he attended Rensselaer pursuing a graduate degree in Physics.

Career

Jones began his photography career in 1971. He has photographed historic events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Million Man March, and twelve successive Olympic Games. In the 1980s he accompanied U.S. congressmen to Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras on CODELs (COngressional DELegations) documenting government, military, and rebel leaders.

In 1990, the Museum of Afro-American History commissioned Jones to honor women with “Sojourner’s Daughters”. This project led Aetna to hire Jones to photograph their annual African American History calendars through 2011.

Jones was president of the New England chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers from 1982-1986.

On April 11, 2013, Jones was featured in the premiere episode of USA Network’s The Moment. Hosted by Kurt Warner, the show featured ordinary people seeking a second chance at their dream career. Jones was the on-screen mentor to aspiring sports photographer Tracey Marcum, providing shooting tips and critiques of her photos.

Since 2013, Jones has been working with developer Millennium Partners to document the construction of their high profile developments around Boston. Jones’ project, called Ironclad Construction Photography, documents not only the steel and glass rising to form the sixty-story landmark, but also the diverse tradespeople risking their lives high above downtown Boston. Since the completion of Millennium Tower in 2016, Jones has continued to work with Millennium Partners photographing the construction of Winthrop Center Tower, a 52 story tower going up in downtown Boston.