PHOTOGRAPHER.AUTHOR.SPEAKER
ABOUT ME
I am obsessed with how we are all connected. Obsessed with creating experiences that become timeless.
Every picture comes from a feeling I had as a child growing up in Pittsburgh. A feeling of joy I strive to re-imagine everyday. I am also searching everyday for beauty. I find it everywhere.
As an internationally known photographer, I am celebrated for my energetic and joyful pictures. A RISD graduate, an Annie Leibovitz protege, and published in almost every major publication. Known by companies large (IBM, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Cardinal Health) and smaller (Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream, WQED, Crocs) and many non-profits, arts and community organizations for photographing what makes them so special in the most human terms. I have photographed celebrities and politicians and artists and musicians and always hear from the subjects, “that is exactly who I am.’ My photos are about joy, but also uncovering what makes us all completely unique. I have been called “The Inspirator” but like to be known for my generosity. I have a big reputation which sometimes scares people off. As a freelancer we need to brag and talk about why we are so successful. The whole purpose of all of this is to connect with you.
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I give talks, do workshops, and I especially like Team Building. Through my George Lange Sessions, I create a photo experience around site specific activations. I love creating a stage for special moments to unfold at large events, off-sites or any gathering with your favorite people. I build experiences that are totally unique and energizing while capturing amazing photographs that brand the moment and capture people in ways that are totally special.
After years of taking pictures everyday, I have just begun making prints from my archive. It has been wild discovery - especially for me. You can see my archive and prints for sale at georgelange.com. From the only posed portrait of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates ever, to Jimmy and Warren Buffet dressing up as each other - to Andy Warhol, the cast of Friends & Seinfeld, the Gorilla Girls, Karl Lagerfeld, Matt Groening, Jim Carrey, Channing Tatum, Yo Yo Ma, Mac Miller, The Obamas, Bob Marley, Springsteen…
My parents gave me a camera at seven years old, unknowingly planting the seed for a long and successful career in photography. I studied at the Rhode Island School of Design when the photo department was run by Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind. I was instrumental in bringing photographer Wendy McNeil to the school and subsequently studying with her.
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Early in my career I worked with giants of photography Duane Michals and Annie Leibovitz, where I learned the fine art of storytelling through images (Duane) and the choreography of a big commercial shoot (Annie). Immediately after, I went out on my own and began to shoot for magazines such as Rolling Stone, Esquire, Entertainment Weekly, Teen People, NY Times Magazine, Vogue, Vanity Fair, GEO, and Fortune among many others.

I also shot many of the iconic images from 90’s TV shows such as Friends, Frazier, Dawson’s Creek, and Seinfeld. Later I shot ads for TLC with hit shows like Cake Boss and Honey Boo Boo. I have shot ads for movie posters including Jackie Brown, Little Rascals, Flintstones, and many Jim Carrey movies.
In September, 2019 there was a major exhibit with a collection of images from my friendship with Francesca Woodman at the MCA Denver. My goal was to show how much fun we had at RISD together. Many of her images are dark, and then there is how she died tragically. I had another chapter to share. A third of the exhibit were my pictures of Francesca. It was a thrill seeing how well the whole show was received. Rizzoli published the catalog for the show, "Portrait of a Reputation."
My pictures have been included “Light in the Darkness”, a book about Bruce Springsteen and many other collections.My photograph of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates is in the collection of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. My popular book The Unforgettable Photograph, published in 2013 by Workman Publishing, co-authored by Scott Mowbray, and published in multiple languages internationally. It got the attention of Instagram and landed me the position of the first Artist in Residence for Creative Shop, the in-house creative agency at Instagram and Facebook. The latest wave of the book was a series of recreations made in The Gambia you can read about here. Currently I am offering images from archive by creating large-scale, custom prints. A reexamination of my most iconic images proves that I have always been able to bring joy and energy to any setting, with any subject - whether movie stars, corporate giants, or the beauty in everyday life.
My current work is focused on intimate, real-life moments. An in-depth project for Dick’s Sporting Goods focused on the emotional side of youth sports showed the power of the moments in-between innings, comforting a loss, squeezing into a tight uniform and connecting off the field with teammates. During the year of Covid I built an outdoor studio in Pittsburgh which changed everyday. I worked on a project for WQED on the adultification of black girls. I did corporate portraits which involved building outdoor studios in executive’s home driveways. I also got involved in consulting which was thrilling. Consulting allows me to get involved in the creative process before the photographer is normally hired. It has been a natural fit and lets my knowledge of a company be so much deeper before I even pick up my camera.
I am a proud native of Pittsburgh, PA. After living in New York, Santa Monica, and Boulder while traveling all over the world, I returned to Pittsburgh in the summer of 2018 with my wife and two boys. I find Pittsburgh to be the most generous place I have ever lived, especially upon my return.
