last spring i took my kids to the studio of photographer, george lange, for a print sale. he had been living in boulder after a storied career as a celebrity photographer whose projects took him all over the world and was preparing for yet another move back to his hometown of pittsburgh. he was clearing out the prints from decades of work shooting all kinds of interesting people: the cast of friends, tom hanks, sophia loren, a young uma thurman, the seinfeld gang, kermit the frog, bill gates and steve jobs (together!), andy warhol, athletes and rappers and rockstars and jazz musicians, authors and politicians. we spent hours there pouring over the different images and deciding which ones to bring home. at some point, mr. lange wandered into the room where we were organizing our choices and started chatting with theo about going to summer camp. (theo was wearing his camp kee tov hoodie.) he was unassuming and warm and i thought he was another customer. but then he asked me if i would mind if he took a couple of pictures of the kids and i realized who he was. we went into the garden where he set up the backdrop and he clicked away for about five minutes. he took my contact info so he could share the photos with me later.
(“ruach” means spirit!)
i know a thing or two about photography because i take our holiday card every year. mr. lange and i have very different approaches… i threaten and bribe and cajol and bark at my subjects in pursuit of “natural” smiles and pleasing compositions. my subjects almost always end up crying and i have to take them out for donuts afterward. mr. lange just quietly chatted with the kids and there were no tears or swears or fits. it was completely painless, enjoyable even. i can see now why george lange has had the career he’s had and why no one ever wants me to take their picture. so for this year’s holiday card we are using a photo by mr. lange (even though i would have loved to put them in coordinating outfits and thrown hank in there too… but i thought that was really too much to ask.)
you should have seen the reaction when i told the kids we did not have to have the holiday photo shoot this year… lucy threw her arms around me and said, “oh mama, i love you SO MUCH! you are the BEST mama in the world!” theo gave me a nod, but it was FULL of meaning and loads of love and gratitude. so THANK YOU mr. lange… we will not soon forget this great kindness. HAPPY HOLIDAYS all! x0x0x
boulders: george lange has a show on through april at the museum of contemporary art in denver documenting his friendship and work with francesca woodman - well worth a visit!
to read more about my holiday photo shoots click here