  We present $B,V,R,J,H,K$ broad--band images of the barred galaxy NGC 1097.
The optical and infrared colors maps trace the location of the major dust
features. The dust lanes are relatively free of star formation and have low
opacity. The depth of the dust lanes decreases as a function of wavelength so
that they are deepest at $B$ and shallower at $H$ and $K$ where they are
difficult to detect. We find that the dust lane on the north-west side of the
galaxy has colors consistent with those of a dust screen with opacity derived
from the galactic extinction law. Thus, it must be located on the near side of
the galaxy. The colors in the dust lane on the south-east side of the galaxy,
on the other hand, suggest that there are stars both in front of and behind the
dust, consistent with this dust lane being located on the far side of the
galaxy. Near the inner spiral ring (at $\sim 17'' = 1.4$kpc from the nucleus),
the dust lane becomes double peaked with peak to valley extinction ratio
similar to that observed in radio continuum by Ondrechen and van der Hulst
(1983). This suggests that if the cold diffuse component of the interstellar
medium (traced by the dust) moves with the cosmic ray electron component then
the magnetic field pressure is not a significant force in the shocks.
Alternatively if the two phases do not move together a more detailed comparison
may show differences in the shock shapes. From the $K$ images, we estimate that
the total stellar mass of the star forming spiral ring at a radius of $\sim$
1kpc from the nucleus is of the same order as the molecular gas mass in the
ring. The infrared images show a short bar inside the inner spiral ring. In the
principal plane of the galaxy, the short bar is not perpendicular to the
prominent outer bar. This suggests that there are torques between the inner bar
and the spiral
