Biography

Joseph Bolt is an English born photographer currently living in China. He specialises in documentary photography and photojournalism, is a keen street photographer, and also works with musicians, documenting their lives, doing band portraits and gig photography.

Joseph started his career in the UK as a fine artist, living and studying in Northampton and London, graduating from his degree in 2005. His early fine art works tackled issues of memory and loss fuelled by the personal loss of his father at the age of 9. He became interested in the human obsession of preserving history and peoples personal obsessions with leaving evidence of their existence. These themes led him to research photography theory and started his serious study of photography. He began to question the reality of the photograph and explore the truth behind it.

Whist photography always played a strong part in the creative process when developing his early works, it wasn’t until after his degree that his passion for the medium really blossomed. In his search for a reality in the image he was drawn more towards documentary photography and photojournalism.

He then spent some time travelling and documenting. He explored the US, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, China and Tibet. He trod paths walked by many others in the past and whist obsessively documenting (like so many others he came across) he continued to question the truth of photography and strove to add more depth to his works. This led his study back to China where he is doing his Masters Degree in International Photojournalism.

As well as his own study Joseph has inspired others by taking art workshops in UK schools. He spent 6 months employed at Mereway Middle School in Northampton taking small art workshops and spent some time assisting tutoring at the University of Northampton where he introduced new students to SLR and DSLRS, aided lighting workshops and taught his own Photoshop classes.

Joseph is currently living and studying in China’s Liaoning Province in the city of Dalian.

More examples of Joseph's work can be found at www.flickr.com

or visit his blog