This month in Archives & Special Collections, we launch the the Jules Bates photographs collection in our Virtual Archives, in celebration of what would have been Jules Bates’ 70th birthday on May 13, 2025.

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, photos from the late '70s Los Angeles punk scene, celebrity portraits, and his ArtCenter student work.

See our introduction to Bates' work in the online exhibit Jules Bates: A Photographer Ahead of His Time.

Photo credit: DEVO band members wearing energy dome hats for the Freedom of Choice photo shoot, 1980. Photography by Jules Bates.