John Bates has a wide variety of expertise when it comes to photography.  His current projects range from a cutting edge, experimental yoga pose series—gothic and abstract photography—and classic portraiture.  It is the diversity in both his work and his thoughts that bring a life of its own to his work.

John was born in 1964 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was given his first camera in 1976 and began building his darkroom the following year.  Bates has worked in all aspects of photography from stockroom clerk, managing inventory, to darkroom technician, to photographer. Following high school John joined the United States Marine Corps where he had opportunities to work with documentation and military photography. Following the Marines, John returned to school at the University of Utah.  He was involved in a beta test of the Kodak 3200 film which resulted in a gallery showing at the U of U. In 1990 he was part of a Kodak team sent to make a photo documentary of Eastern Europe during the fall of the Berlin Wall. Following this, John opened Bates Photography services, which offered commercial, portrait, conservation, and technical services. After three years John closed the business. 

In 1998, John discovered Nissa Hall.  His portfolio of her helped launch Nissa to a successful and growing national career.  Working with Nissa also reunited John with artist Arthur Roberg.  In the late 80’s John shot pictures to serve as a base for Arthur’s work.  The two collaborated on several projects in 1999 and 2000.  In 2001 a chance meeting with another photographer led John Bates to experiment with large format photography.   During this time he began garnering local and state awards.  In 2003 John launched Raucous Images Photos.