Mark Seliger

 ( 20th-century American Photographers ) 

In 1996, Seliger published his first book, When They Came to Take My Father: Voices of the Holocaust. He later described the book, which covers subject matter that was personal and unedited, as one of the high points in his career.

During his time at Rolling Stone, Seliger began a long-term collaborative relationship with design director, Fred Woodward. They co-directed music videos for Hole "Violet" (1994), Joan Osborne "One of Us" (1996), Shawn Colvin "Sunny Came Home" (1997), Paula Cole "I Don't Want to Wait" (1997), Natalie Merchant "Ophelia" and "Kind and Generous"(both 1998), Lenny Kravitz "I Belong to You"and Shinehead "Jamaican in New York" and commercials for The Gap starring artists such as Missy Elliot, Aerosmith and LL Cool J. Seliger's other music videos include "She" by Elvis Costello, "Stillness of Heart" and "I Belong to You" by Lenny Kravitz, "Kind and Generous" by Natalie Merchant, "Maria" by Willie Nelson, "Revelator" by Gillian Welch and "Wake Me Up" by Avicii co-directed by Barney Miller.

In 2002, Seliger moved from Rolling Stone to Conde Nast Publications, initially under contract for GQ and Vanity Fair. Other magazines he has photographed for include British Vogue, Citizen K, Details, Elle, Esquire, Harper's Bazaar, German Vogue, Hero, Heroine, Interview, Vogue Italia, L'Uomo Vogue, The New York Times Magazine, Purple, Time, Vogue China, Vogue Hommes, Vogue Russia, Vogue Spain, and W.

In 2005, Seliger published In My Stairwell which features artists photographed in the elevator shaft-turned-stairwell of his loft studio. In 2006, Seliger opened 401 Projects, a photography gallery and community space next to his studio in the West Village.

Since 2014, Seliger has been photographing actors and directors at the Vanity Fair Oscars Party following the Academy Awards. Each year he and set designer Thomas Thurnauer design a 15’ x 30" portable studio for the event. On the night of the party about 100 actors will sit for their portrait.Freestone, Camille, "Behind the Lens of Vanity Fair's Oscars Portrait Photographer," Coveteur, retrieved February 21, 2023.

In 2016, Seliger published On Christopher Street: Transgender Stories, which includes over 70 portraits of transgender people. Seliger began documenting his West Village neighborhood which had been rapidly gentrifying and the project evolved to tell a story about the transgender community. Photographs from the collection were featured in a 2021-2022 exhibition at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. The museum's curator wrote of the photographs: "These portraits remind us that Christopher Street is more than just a physical place – it is a feeling, an idea, that redefines notions of home and community." "On Christopher Street: Transgender Portraits by Mark Seliger", retrieved March 6, 2023.

In 2019, Seliger was named an American Portrait Gallery honoree by the National Portrait Gallery, which acquired the photographer's portrait of Lin-Manuel Miranda dressed as the character Hamilton from his hit musical by the same name. "A Host of Contemporary Luminaries Join the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection", retrieved March 6, 2023.

In 2020, Seliger auctioned off 26 photographs to benefit COVID-19 relief efforts. The photographs included portraits of Tom Hanks, Jennifer Lopez, Brad Pitt, Barack Obama, Willie Nelson and Bruce Springsteen, among others, and raised a total of $232,375 for a number of charities chosen by each of the featured celebrities.

In 2021, Seliger published The City that Finally Sleeps, which documents the empty streets of New York City during March 2020 at the height of the pandemic. Seliger has described the project as "a celebration of resilience and hope."Lusina, Anete, "Series Captures NYC Through the Pandemic: ‘The City that Finally Sleeps’," PetaPixel, retrieved March 9, 2023.

Seliger has said that a great portrait comes from composition, the emotional response and the storytelling. Some of the notable people Seliger has photographed over the years include: Jennifer Aniston, David Beckham, Justin Bieber, Tony Bennett, David Bowie, Tom Brady, Matthew Broderick, David Byrne, Kobe Bryant, Jimmy Carter, Johnny Cash, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Kurt Cobain, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Dalai Lama, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Lady Gaga, George Harrison, Jerry Garcia, Kendrick Lamar, Gisele Bündchen, Jay-Z, Lenny Kravitz, Paul McCartney, Nelson Mandela, Eddie Murphy, Willie Nelson, Paul Newman, Barack Obama, Al Pacino, Sarah Jessica Parker, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Iggy Pop, Aly Raisman, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Robert Redford, Julia Roberts, The Rolling Stones, Susan Sarandon, Martin Scorsese, Jerry Seinfeld, Cindy Sherman, Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, Uma Thurman, Desmond Tutu, U2, Neil Young, Williams sisters, and Malala Yousafzai, among others.

• Nirvana on a 1992 cover of Rolling Stone magazine with Kurt Cobain wearing a t-shirt with the slogan: "Corporate Magazines Still Suck."
• Kurt Cobain framed by dolls heads and wilted roses. The photograph accompanied a Rolling Stone article about the making of In Utero and was shot in October 1993, 6 months prior to the musician's death. Speaking of the photograph, Seliger said, "I don’t think this image needs to be seen with a sense of foreboding. If anything, there’s something life-affirming about where he’s at, even if the framing is grotesque. It’s overwhelmingly about the beauty of him as a man."
• Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg in 1993, seated on the rear of a Cadillac in Compton, California.
• Tom Hanks in 1994, with his face framed by the hands of a chimpanzee.
• Jerry Seinfeld as the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz. The 1998 photograph was part of a series with the cast of Seinfeld depicted as the characters from the classic movie.
• Jennifer Lopez in 2001, posing with two live leopards in a jungle scene inspired by the work of fantasy and sci-fi illustrator Frank Frazetta.
• Vaudeville-style performer Bill Irwin as a clown in an elevator shaft. Seliger included the 2002 photograph in his book In My Stairwell and described it as "One of my favorite images of all time that I took."
• Barack Obama in a diptych from 2009 that includes a face-forward image of the president used on the cover of Rolling Stone and a silhouette of the back of his head and shoulders. With only 6 minutes to photograph the president, Seliger first captured the forward-facing cover image. He then asked the president if he would pose for photographs from the side and behind. As Seliger photographed his back, the president joked, "Is this going to make my ears look big?" After a few more shots he said, "Okay Mark, that’s enough art," and walked off.
• Artist Cindy Sherman in 2009 for fashion magazine L'Uomo Vogue, photographed with a prosthetic breastplate.
• The Dalai Lama in 2011. Seliger asked the Dalai Lama if he would remove his glasses and watch despite having been asked by the Lama's accompany monks not to make the request. The Lama agreed and removed them for the shoot. Seliger has said " He was wearing this 13th-century Malas, passed on to him, and I just loved seeing his eyes and the blackness of the beads and how there was a real quality of depth and spirituality to it, and less about modern jewelry and glasses."
• Brad Pitt in 2014 riding a motorcycle among redwoods along the Avenue of Giants for Details magazine.
• Lin-Manuel Miranda in 2016 as Alexander Hamilton; later acquired by the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.