Biography

JAIN LEMOS began her career in the visual arts working on the sets of feature films for MGM, Warner Bros., and Paramount including Racing with the Moon, directed by Richard Benjamin, Protocol directed by Herbert Ross, The Running Man directed by Paul Michael Glaser, Overboard directed by Garry Marshall, and Memories of Me directed by Henry Winkler.

In 1988, Rick Smolan, co-founder of the popular A Day in the Life series of coffee table books, hired her as an assignment editor on the California book published by Collins Publishers in San Francisco. At the end of the project, she joined Starlight Photo Agency as director, moving to New York with the agency in 1990.

With Starlight, she gained considerable experience in the business of professional photography. She was responsible for producing and coordinating the editorial photography for dozens of major stories appearing in National Geographic, Time, Life and other major magazines, traveling to Europe, China and Japan. Ms. Lemos also helped to establish one of the first state-of-the-art digital imaging studios at Starlight with corporate sponsors Eastman Kodak and Apple Computer.

In 1995, she resumed her affiliation with Collins Publishers, working as project manager on the benefit book, Requiem for the Heartland: The Oklahoma City Bombing with A Day in the Life co-founder David Cohen. Ms. Lemos later became editor of the publisher’s list of celebrity and film-related photography books.

While at Collins, she established a series of companion books to major motion pictures and television documentaries including The Making of Evita with director Alan Parker and ABC’s The Story of Mothers and Daughters. Other titles under her direction at Collins were the pictorial biographies Muhammed Ali: In Perspective; Dan Marino: On the Record; Boyz II Men: Us II You; and A Day in the Life of the National Hockey League.

Ms. Lemos also produced for Collins the New York Times #1 bestseller, James Cameron’s Titanic. A project spanning two years, she spent considerable time on the set of the blockbuster movie documenting and preparing the final manuscript. She hired former Life magazine photographer Douglas Kirkland to shoot the principal images. To promote the book, she was interviewed on San Francisco movie critic Jan Wahl’s television show, Talking Pictures, and gave a presentation on the project to a standing-room only crowd at the popular Book Passage bookstore in Corte Madera, California.

For Pearson/Penguin’s digital division she helped develop and launch online promotional websites to rollout new books by top authors including Stephen King’s Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass and Tom Clancy’s Politika. With the cast of Seinfeld and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer David Hume Kennerly, she edited the photographs and interviews for Seinoff: The Final Days of Seinfeld.

In 1999, she was hired by Jennifer Openshaw of the Women’s Financial Network as managing editor and senior content producer. She was responsible for helping the founder develop over 30 site modules such as lending, insurance, debt management, investing centers, experts on call, and advice columnists, as well as discussion groups, daily financial news, quizzes, polls and feature articles.

Returning to books, Ms. Lemos wrote The Home Renovation Workbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating the Home of your Dreams (Chronicle Books), a comprehensive planner that guides readers through the entire renovation process. She was later appointed managing editor in 2001 to run a team of 20 top news photographers for the presidential inaugural documentary book project Celebrating America’s Spirit Together.

From 2001 to 2005 she launched and promoted as marketing director the international online stock photography collection Lonely Planet Images in North America. Her noteworthy contributions to the agency include landing major distribution partnership and licensing agreements with Getty Images, New York Times Digital, AOL, Yahoo, Hilton Hotels and Allposters.

Over the years, Ms. Lemos has moderated, provided portfolio reviews and participated as a speaker on many photography business panels for The American Society of Picture Professionals (ASPP), The North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) and Photo District News’ PhotoPlus Conference and Expo. An ASPP member since 1989, she has been elected to volunteer positions as New York chapter president, website editor, board member and education chair. She also is a member of The Authors Guild and a PLUS Advisory Council Participant.

Ms. Lemos continues her career today as a freelance writer, speaker, and photography consultant. She lives in Laguna Niguel, California.