05/13/2025
Happy Birthday Jules Bates! Today would have been Jules’ 70th birthday, and we're celebrating him by launching the “Jules Bates photographs” collection in our Virtual Archives! Bates (1955-1982) was a Los Angeles-based photographer and photo editor of L.A. Weekly, who co-founded Artrouble with Phyllis Cohen and David Allen. Together they created iconic album covers, such as DEVO’s Freedom of Choice album and New Wave fashion imagery. The collection contains his images of album cover artwork, fashion photography, the late '70s Los Angeles punk scene, celebrity portraits, and his ArtCenter student work.
All photography by Jules Bates.
Image 1: DEVO members wearing energy dome hats for the Freedom of Choice photo shoot, 1980.
Image 2: Kool and the Gang for the cover of their single Celebration, 1980.
Image 3: Quadriptych portrait of a female model's face with yellow hair and eye makeup in front of four different color backgrounds, circa 1980.
Image 4: Artrouble silkscreen print of a female model wearing elaborate makeup, including the Artrouble logos on her body, in front of a background with geometric patterns, circa 1980.
Image 5: A group portrait of the residents of the Canterbury Apartments in the courtyard. Jules Bates is in the front center, 1977.
Image 6: Portrait of David Lynch sitting on a stool, circa 1980.
