Aqua City

TIME asked me to catch a last-minute flight to Indianapolis and photograph the US Olympic Synchronized Swim Team for this week’s issue.

Like fish, the women crisscrossed the pool from 7:30 in the morning until 5 o’clock at night, with a short break for lunch and weight lifting. The fluorescent lighting in the practice pool wasn’t great; Right before practice ended, the team agreed to move into a better looking pool.

I shot this from the tip of the Olympic High Dive, leaning over the edge while the coach crouched next to me, shouting instructions.

This month, Photoserve interviewed Texas Monthly art director Brian Johnson about what it’s like to work with me. Here’s what he said…   (Thanks Brian!)

Brian Johnson at Texas Monthly Finds It with David Bowman

When it comes to assigning photography, there is little more rewarding than finding a freelancer who wants “it” as bad as you do. I’m not talking about someone that wants work—I’m talking about someone that wants IT. As we all know, “It” is elusive. “It” is often stubborn. “It” can be a bitch to even understand. However, when you find that person that is willing to jump in a van and live off of sardines and water for five days in search of it you get that buzz. The buzz that only comes from the charge of excitement associated with knowing that “It” will likely be on your desk, in your in-box, or being downloaded very soon. David Bowman is a freelance photographer. David Bowman eats sardines. David Bowman knows how to find “It”.

I have worked with David for many years, and his eagerness to go after “it” has never waned. This drive has delivered some of the most compelling images I have had the pleasure to work with and fostered one of the most collaborative and creative relationships of my career. From portraits to landscapes, David manages to capture moments that seemingly live between the blinks of our eyes: the moments you feel, and know to be true, but never actually see. David has never submitted an image to me that is expected. He has the unique ability to deliver what you asked for but in a way that you never knew you could get. That is one of the most wonderful qualities I can think of in a photographer. This is why I continue to hire David Bowman.

Brian Johnson has been in the role of Associate Art Director for Texas Monthly for the past year while working remotely from Minnesota. In addition, he freelances as an art director and designer. Prior to that he was the Creative Director of Minnesota Monthly from 2001-2011.

Read the article online here.

ESPN the Magazine asked me to shoot Ricky Rubio. He’s the phenomenal 21-year-old point guard for the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team. Originally from Spain, he turned pro at the age of 14. Three years later he was in the Olympics.

The shoot had to happen within 24 hours. He only had five minutes to spare, between practice and a game. Five minutes isn’t much, I thought. They’re probably just saying that. Surely I’ll get more time once we’re on set.


After four minutes of shooting, I looked over at his manager. Almost done, I said, in my most optimistic yet professional geez-all-I-need-is-a-little-more-time voice.

OK, he said. One minute.

My new website: bowmanstudio.com

I started my first blog in 2002, as a way to chronicle a harrowing jeep trip across the desert with my wife, baby and dog, as we moved to San Francisco without much of a plan.

Everything was new and exciting, and it was a great way to keep a journal. Soon after, Gourmet magazine hired me for a 10 day travel shoot… And then I was sent to the Bahamas for a month, on my first digital job. It was the beginning.

Along came another baby, and we decided to move back to Minneapolis. Somewhere in the shuffle, I lost my first blog entries.

Until now. You can read them here: End of Land Sadness (End of the World Gladness) and Bahamas.com.

Earlier this year, Syngenta hired me to make a photograph on a golf course to help advertise fertilizer.

We started small, and worked our way up.


The trick was to not leave any Steam Roller marks on the green.

Fast Company magazine sent me over to Mauro Porcini’s house, to photograph him with his wife, Elisa. They recently moved to Minnesota from Milan. He’s the new head of product design at 3M, and she’s a clothing designer.

One of the first things they did after moving into their suburban ranch house was install a sculpture of a lion in the front yard, which he spray-painted pink.



After photographing outside, we moved indoors. Elisa served a nine-course lunch, and I photographed Mauro’s shoe collection. The espresso flowed like water.



Read the complete article here.

The 2011 International Photography Awards just gave my Electric Avenue series a first place award — and the Minnesota State Fair hired me as the Official Photographer for a couple of steamy days.

See some of the new work here.

Whenever I drive past this billboard, located at the interchange of highways 35W and I-94 (arguably the busiest place in Minnesota), my daughters point up and say: There’s Daddy’s beer ad!

I was living in Sausalito, CA, with my wife, baby, and dog — sharing rent with my wife’s mom and teenaged sister. We all lived together on the edge of a cliff; A crowded little house where the bedroom walls touched our mattress on three sides, leaving about 2 feet to maneuver. But the view was amazing. At night we could hear seals barking. And the searchlight from Alcatraz lit up the walls every few seconds.

I was starting to land my own shooting jobs. I had recently returned from a 10 day trip, photographing a William Least Heat-Moon travel piece on the North Shore of Lake Superior for Gourmet magazine. Prior to that, I’d mostly been working for other photographers, as an assistant. I was happy to get whatever work I could.

Someone called and asked if I might drive down to Apple and help another photographer shoot a portrait for an international magazine. Perhaps they mentioned Steve Jobs, I’m not sure. I wouldn’t have recognized his name if they had. Yes, I owned a couple of Macs. But I never thought about the guy who invented them, any more than I thought about Henry Ford when I drove my car across the Golden Gate Bridge.

I met the photographer at his hotel in San Francisco. He’d flown up from Los Angeles the night before, where he’d been shooting some ads. His main thing was fashion, and the editors figured he’d make an interesting shot of Steve Jobs with his latest product: the iPod. (something else I’d never heard of).

We drove down to Cupertino, about an hour along the coast. All the while, the photographer chatted on his cell phone with his publicist, pitching his idea for a reality show about himself. Eventually, we arrived at Apple, and set up equipment in a conference room.

Steve Jobs walked in, holding an iPod with the headphones in. The photographer tried to say hello, but to no avail. Jobs was listening to music. He couldn’t hear a word. During the shoot, Jobs didn’t talk — or turn it down. He just stood there with the iPod, nodding his head to the music, ignoring the photographer’s gestures. And then he left.