- Travis Bell has served as a production stills photographer, college and pro sports shooter and governor's photographer. His first production work included capturing stills for ESPN on location during their "College GameDay" broadcast in Columbia, S.C.
He later served as the still photographer for the making of "3-The Dale Earnhardt Story". Filmed in the Charlotte area, the ESPN feature starred Oscar winner J.K. Simmons ("Justice League") and Barry Pepper ("Saving Private Ryan"). Bell has continued to contribute to ESPN and ABC productions, photographing ABC's "Shaq Vs." and "Celebrity Wife Swap" in Charlotte and ESPN's "SEC Nation" broadcasts in Columbia.
On Aug. 14, 2014, he served as the official photographer for the launch of ESPN's SEC Network.
He has been photographing college and pro sports since he was 19 and in 2017 served as the official team photographer for the South Carolina Gamecocks' trip to The Final Four in Phoenix. He brings a background in photojournalism to every assignment, having experience in the magazine and newspaper industry, where he learned to quietly blend in while documenting public and behind-the-scenes moments.
Bell served as Gov. Jim Hodges' photographer in Columbia from 1999-2001, where he continued to blend in while capturing historic moments.
He is a second-generation photographer, born and raised in Lancaster, S.C., located just 30 miles south of Charlotte, N.C. He works primarily in The Carolinas and Atlanta.
His sports images have been seen on ESPN's SportsCenter, ESPN's Outside the Lines, the ACC and SEC Networks, TNT and Fox Sports.
In 2018, he produced and directed the documentary short film "Lancaster-Our Stories". The all black-and white series focused on Lancaster, S.C. natives sharing their favorite memories about growing up in the small mill town in the 1950s through the 1980s.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Mary Frances Hendrix
- Bell's father, Bobby, was an Air Force photographer who processed and printed images from U2 spy planes during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The prints were viewed by President Kennedy and also used on the floor of the United Nations to prove missiles were in Cuba.
- In 1996, Bell played H-O-R-S-E with Steph and Seth Curry at the Charlotte Hornets training facility in Fort Mill, SC. The brothers were children at the time. Bell's photo shoot with their father, Hornets guard Dell Curry, was delayed due to a long, team meeting. The two boys invited Bell to join them on the practice court for the game.
- Served as an adjunct professor at Columbia International University in 2006, teaching digital photography.
- During his time as Gov. Jim Hodges' photographer, the governor's security detail referred to Bell as SB1, short for Shutterbug One.
- Bell's father, Bobby, photographed the 1964 South Carolina-Nebraska football game in Lincoln while he was in the Air Force. Travis photographed the 2012 South Carolina-Nebraska football game in Orlando while on contract with Gamecocks Athletics.
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