1942-

Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which spans several decades and crosses multiple genres.

In 2003, Reed released his first book of photographs, Emotions in Action. This work actually was made up out of two books, a larger A4-paper sized called "Emotions" and a smaller one called "Actions" which was laid into the hard cover of the former. His second book of photographs, called "Lou Reed's New York," was released in January 2006. Reed's third photo collection, “In Romanticism,” was published in 2009. The subjects are various landscape and architectural motifs encountered and documented in travels through Scotland, Denmark, Spain, Rome, China and Big Sur in California. The approach is at once formal and steeped in feeling. As Reed states, recalling the contexts for these images, "The trees and the wind billowing and dancing in Edinburgh reminding me of the storm I fell in love with in Cork. The perspectives and range of blacks and whites the perfect thing for a film noir fan."

Reed was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. He has acted in and composed music for a number of films, and is the recipient of the Chevalier Commander of Arts and Letters from the French government.