Beau Patrick Coulon is a New Orleans-based photographer and filmmaker with a wide range of commercial, fine art, and documentary experience; his imagery often draws from human struggle and subcultural movements. Born in Hollywood, he is the eighth of ten siblings, and he spent much of his childhood bouncing back and forth between California, Florida, and Oklahoma. At 13, he left his mom's apartment to live on the streets with punks he met on Hollywood Blvd.
Coulon traveled the country by thumb and freight, hopscotching between a network of derelict squats, punk houses, collectives, and DIY art spaces. He arrived in New Orleans in the mid-90s and found kitchen work in the French Quarter. Beau also worked seasonally as a farmhand in Washington, pouring concrete in Montana, harvesting sugar beets in Minnesota, bookbinding in SF, demolition in NYC, and framing art in Tampa Bay. Through these experiences, he formed connections with people from every walk of life and developed a perspective informed by decades of working-class struggle and nomadic living.
Although he no longer lives on the road, his past imbues his visual storytelling. Coulon's imagery is that of one whose love for his subject matter overwhelms the frame. His work speaks the language of the street and transient Americana. Coulon's photographs explore everyday splendor and profound moments that often go unnoticed among marketed notions of refinement, class, and commerce.
Coulon has shown his work in numerous galleries and art spaces around the U.S., often appearing in group exhibits and benefit shows. He's had two solo shows, Marginal Transience, which opened at ABCO Art Space in Oakland and Nomad Gallery in Los Angeles in 2014, and Terminal Impermanence, which opened in L.A. at Makers Mess Studio in 2016. In 2019, he curated Nowhere Near, a group photo show presented in a refurbished boxcar at the Black Butte Center for Railroad Culture. Beau has also taken his passion for visual art and narrative into filmmaking, having worked on over 50 productions ranging from music videos, documentaries, feature films, and T.V. series. When he's not collaborating with a film crew, he's experimenting with analog film media to explore themes of adversity, liberation, adventure, and rebellious humor.
In 2020, Coulon founded Burn Barrel Press, an independent art book publishing house that supports projects focusing on personal experiences and visual stories from society's frayed edges.
His first monograph, Revel & Revolt, was published on April 12th, 2021—a co-edition between Burn Barrel Press and Defend New Orleans’ imprint, DNO books. Inside, Coulon presents his straightforward yet personal visual documentation of protests, parades, and the punk scene in New Orleans from 2013 to 2020.
CV available upon request.