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JOHN SWOPE was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1908. After graduating from Harvard in 1930, he became involved in the University Players on Cape Cod, where he became close friends with actors Henry Fonda and James Stewart and director Josh Logan. After running a New Deal program, Swope signed on to a Los Angeles-to-Hawaii yacht race in 1936 where he developed an interest in photography. Settling in Los Angeles, he started taking pictures of Fonda and Stewart and worked as an assistant to uber-agent Leland Hayward. Using all these contacts, Swope produced a behind-the-scenes view of the Hollywood Studio system at its apex called Camera Over Hollywood (1939). He began shooting for Better Homes and Gardens and eventually Life magazine. During World War II, he took the photos for a book written by John Steinbeck on the training of Army Air Force flight crews called Bombs Away. He eventually became a member of Edward Steichen’s Navy photo unit and covered the freeing of Americans from Japanese prisoner-of-war camps. Swope’s early residence in Los Angeles coincided with his efforts to teach himself photography. He took photos of everything he found interesting in his new home, including lots of neon signage.
—Tom Zimmerman, "Spectacular Illumination: Neon Los Angeles 1925–1965"