The Jazz Lenses - Skip Bolen & Steven Forster's photographs of Jazz Musicians in New Orleans. If you haven't seen it yet -- you have less than two more weeks to see this photography show at John Stinson Fine Arts at 900 South Peters Street in the historic Warehouse Arts District of New Orleans - open from 10 am - 7 pm on weekdays and Noon - 5 pm on Saturdays through the end of May.

Selected as a Hot Seven Best Bet of the Week during the first week of Jazz Fest by New Orleans' Gambit Weekly.

"Steven Forster is, of course, the ubiquitous Times-Picayune photographer, the eye behind all those chablis-tinged grins on the New Orleans' Times-Picayune Sunday Big Easy Page, and Skip Bolen is the tri-coastal local, accomplished photographer, fashion and graphic designer who in recent years has dedicated himself to his first love, the art of music that is, music as visual art- here in New Orleans, Los Angeles and beyond . Bolen and Forster are peripatetic jazz hounds as we see in this show, where Bolen's eloquent large scale black-and-white prints, and Forster's monumental one-of-a-kind 4x6 foot color jams on the New Orleans Jazz Lifestyle' capture the high spirited mise-en-scene of the musical lifestyle" - D. Eric Bookhardt, Gambit Weekly.

"By all accounts, last weeks opening reception of works by Skip Bolen (the national House of Blues graphic art director who was a fixture on the late1980s New Orleans art scene) and Steven Forster (whose society/celebrity/nightlife photos are known from the Big Easy Page) at John Stinson Fine Arts gave the Bob Dylan concert a run for the money as the Saturday night place to be." - weighing in on the big buzz the Jazz Lenses photographs are having in the city by Doug McCash, art critic, New Orleans Times-Picayune.

SKIP BOLEN: Shooting primarily in black and white, using only available light with a Leica camera system, Skip Bolen is dedicated to "capturing the moment" of some of today's most exciting jazz performers on and offstage, revealing beautifully printed images infused with the spontaneous intensity, raw energy and collaborative spirit of the live jazz performance. Skip Bolen is exhibiting thirty 20 x 24 inch silver gelatin photographs of Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, Brian Blade, Terence Blanchard, Gerald Cannon, Chick Corea, Jeremy Davenport, Derek Douget, Donald Edwards, Antonio Gambrell, Roland Guerin, Roy Hargrove, Donald Harrison, Jr., Howard Johnson, Leroy Jones, Marlon Jordan, Craig Klein, Ellis Marsalis, Jason Marsalis, Irvin Mayfield, David "Fathead" Newman, Nicholas Payton, Danilo Pérez, Kermit Ruffins' kids, Fred Sanders, Christian Scott, Jimmy Scott, Wayne Shorter, James Singleton, Mark Whitfield, Cassandra Wilson, Brice Winston, and more. The exhibit also includes images shot in and around New Orleans and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival that capture the essence and soul of the Big Easy. To see some of the jazz photographs of Skip Bolen - go to SkipBolenStudio.com

STEVEN FORSTER: Check out Steven Forster's monumental and amazing 4 x 6 foot color photographs of New Orleans Jazz and R&B Musicians!!! For the first time in seven years, award-winning photographer Steven Forster has opened up his portfolio - 8,000 photographs published worldwide - and is featuring large 4 by 6 ft color photographs of New Orleans Jazz and R&B Musicians at the John Stinson Fine Arts. Steven Forster, native New Orleanian and professional photographer for more than twenty years, is the hugely popular cameraman and writer of the New Orleans Times Picayune Sunday edition "Big Easy" page. Exhibiting twice at the New Orleans Museum of Art and many times with the Mario Villa Gallery in New Orleans and Chicago, Forster's photography is all the rage, collected by the Historic New Orleans Collection and hangs in the finest rooms of the most notable New Orleans private collections. His fans are intercontinental, readers and watchers of the A&E Network, People Magazine, Court TV, Associated Press, Fox Sports, Elle Magazine, TV Guide, Washington Monthly, Gambit and Figaro newspapers, New Orleans Magazine, LesBeaux Arts, Women's Wear Daily, and the late new Orleans tabloid Impact.

A live auction at The Jazz Lenses opening night on April 26 raised $3,500 to benefit the New Orleans Musicians' Clinic. Photographs were auctioned off by New Orleans own Arthur Hardy and Antoinette K-Doe. Proceeds from this auction and a print to be hung on the walls of the New Orleans Musicians' Clinic were donated in the name of the high bidder, Dr. Ronald Swartz of New Orleans. Dedicated to healing ailing New Orleans musicians (infamous for taking better care of their instruments than their bodies), the New Orleans Musicians' Clinic keeps our musicians and bandleaders up on the stages and in the music clubs all night long. For more information on the clinic, please go to: NewOrleansMusciansClinic.com

John Stinson Fine Arts is located on the ground floor of the Paragon Lofts building at 900 South Peters St., corner of St. Joseph Street in the historic Warehouse Arts District of New Orleans, one block from the entrance to the Convention Center and walking distance from the French Quarter. Hours are Monday through Friday, from 10 am - 7 pm; Saturday from Noon - 5 pm and by appointment. Contact John Stinson at (504) 566.1944 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit JohnStinsonFineArts.com