My salon last week at Todd Reed was a big deal for me and extra thrilling that I could share it with so many people I love in Boulder. It was the coming out event for my new print collection and the discovery of the thread that ties it all together.
For years I have taken pictures all over the world, but never really understood what a “George Lange” picture was. I just dove into each assignment having new ideas everyday, but could never stop to wrap my head around how the pictures were connected as a complete body of work.
Over the past year, after spending a good chunk of time in Pittsburgh and unearthing so much history, I realized that all my pictures were about searching for and recreating the joy I felt growing up. It took me all these years to understand something that simple. Editing the images to include at the salon was a whole new chapter I never knew how to tell before.
The response to the talk has been pretty wild. Last night in the dark, I saw from the shadows on my street a little dog being walked with blinking lights on its collar. From the other end of the leash a voice called out, “George! The talk was so great!” It was my neighbor Hollis Brooks.
Hollis used to work as a contributing editor at In Style Magazine and other high profile positions in New York and San Francisco. Our paths never crossed in New York, but here we were on a cold Boulder evening walking up our street towards the mountains. Hollis now manages VIP speakers for Adobe and Apple among others. So when she said, “George, I was bowled over by the combination of your words and your images. To see and feel the excellence of your work was so moving and exciting. Others in audience felt it, too – the high level of creativity and beauty. The topic of JOY was unexpected and resonant to the audience.”
I told Hollis I needed this all in writing for when I ever doubted what I was doing. She later wrote, “As a speaker manager, I judge the audience throughout a talk, and your ‘kickoff’ was perfect. Loved the concept of your pictures slumbering for so many years, and thought (along with others around me) it was funny that you said you barely remembered taking many of the ‘important’ ones.”
Hollis also said the idea that I didn’t want to become friends with my subjects – just wanted to take pictures together – was a radical idea from a celeb photographer. For me, the most interesting part of looking back at my body of work is how it has opened up the door forward. I never imagined that.
Soon I will be announcing a show in March at The Dairy Arts Center that’s part of the Month of Photography, speaking at Caffeinated Mornings in April, as well as a super exciting project at the MCA Denver in September.
Also want to share a podcast I did with Danny Conroy at MadeLife in late December: icanthelpyou.podbean.com/e/episode-11-with-george-lange/
Please contact our studio – studio@langestudio.com – for any questions about the print collections or to schedule an in-person appointment.