Lou Bopp

Biography

Lou Bopp is an American commercial and portrait photographer known for his "on-location" lifestyle imagery for global brands. Based in St. Louis and New York, he built a career shooting high-energy campaigns for clients like FedEx and AT&T, as well as a passion project documenting authentic Mississippi Delta blues musicians. In 2026, Bopp garnered international acclaim for a profound departure from his commercial roots. He is the co-creator and featured subject of the documentary short "All the Empty Rooms", which was nominated for the 2026 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film. The film chronicles a seven-year project in which Bopp and CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman visited the families of school shooting victims to photograph the preserved bedrooms of the children they lost. Bopp, who typically specializes in capturing "life and presence," described the project as a professional and emotional challenge to "photograph someone who wasn't there." His haunting images of rooms in Parkland, Uvalde, and Newtown serve as the visual anchor of the film, which was directed by Joshua Seftel and released on Netflix in late 2025. Critics have praised his work for avoiding political sensationalism in favor of "sacred spaces frozen in time." Prior to this documentary work, Bopp’s portfolio was defined by his ability to handle complex logistics and diverse locations, a skill set that proved vital when navigating the sensitive environments of grieving families across the United States.