The Donut Pool Photograph

Raymond McCrea Jones (b. 1981)is a visual storyteller who creates imagery from a sense of boundless curiosity through his own unique blend of contemporary reportage and portraiture. Born in Wichita, Kansas he spent much of his formative years in the small town of Huntington, West Virginia where the majority of his family was from. His family eventually ended up in North Carolina where he went on to study visual communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Upon graduating he began his career at The New York Times where he shot and produced for almost every section of the historic publication. In 2011, he relocated back to the South where he has continued to work since. His approach to the creative process has been commissioned by brands and publications around the world. As a director of both photography and motion Jones is a steady hand with an intentional vision. He draws on his time spent at The New York Times to inform his unique blend of intimate portraiture and reportage throughout his editorial and commercial work. Jones is recognized for his inimitable positivity and efficiency on set as well as his seemingly effortless ability to connect with those he is with. Jones places an emphasis on developing long term projects and has published two monographs of his work Out of Step: Faces of Straight Edge (2007, Empire Press) and Birth of a Warrior: Ten Weeks in Basic Training (2015, University Press of New England). His photography has been exhibited in galleries and museums and featured in publications around the world. Jones' latest series Trap Chronicles is featured in the February 2020 issue of Rolling Stone.