Mark Seliger

Seliger was born in Amarillo, Texas, the son of Carol Lee and Maurice, a traveling pipe salesman.[2] The family moved to Houston in 1964. He attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, and East Texas State University (now Texas A&M University Commerce). He moved to New York City in 1984.

Seliger began working for Rolling Stone in 1987. One of his first assignments for the magazine was photographing a young LL Cool J at his grandmother's home in Hollis, Queens.[3] Beginning in 1992, Seliger became Rolling Stones' Chief Photographer.[4] Over the next decade he shot 188 covers for the magazine.[1]

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.[5]

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.

Seliger has also published several books; created a number of CD covers for Burning Spear, Diana Krall and other bands; and directed short films. The celebrities whose portraits Seliger has made include Susan Sarandon, David Byrne, Matthew Barney, Willie Nelson, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Kurt Cobain, Lenny Kravitz, Rob Thomas, Brand Nubian and Tony Bennett.

• Nirvana on a 1992 cover of Rolling Stone magazine with Kurt Cobain wearing a t-shirt with the slogan: "Corporate Magazines Still Suck."[5]
• 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."[5]
• 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.[3]
• 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.[3]
• 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."[3]
• President 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.[3]
• Artist Cindy Sherman in 2009 for fashion magazine L'Uomo Vogue, photographed with a prosthetic breastplate.[3]
• 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.”[3]

Since 2000, Seliger has been the lead singer of country music band Rusty Truck. His band mates include Grant Lee Buffalo drummer Joey Peters and Chalk FarM guitarist Michael Duff. Seliger began writing songs in the late 1990s to fend off artistic angst toward the end of his tenure with Rolling Stone. Rusty Truck formed in 2000 and began performing regularly at the Mint Club in Los Angeles. In 2003, the band released the album "Luck's Changing Lanes." The album's producers include Lenny Kravitz, Gillian Welch, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Dave Rawlings, Sheryl Crow and T Bone Burnett. In 2013, Rusty Truck released their second album "Kicker Town." Vocalist Kristin Mooney and songwriter Mike Viola joined the band on the album, which was produced by Andres Levin.[2] In February 2023, Rusty Truck released its self-titled album. The album was produced by Larry Campbell and features appearances from Sheryl Crow and Jakob Dylan. The video for the album's first single "Ain't Over Me" was directed by Seliger and features Katie Holmes and Benjamin Freemantle.[6]

In 2004, Seliger bought the Richard Neutra-designed Alpha Wirin House in Los Feliz and had designer Mark Haddawy restore the 1949 example of Neutra's Mid-century modern work to maintain its architectural integrity.[7] He sold the house in 2015.[8]

• "Listen" Rizzoli (2010) ISBN 978-0-8478-3464-8
• In My Stairwell Rizzoli (2005) ISBN 978-0-8478-2760-2
• Lenny Kravitz by Seliger and Lenny Kravitz, Arena (2001) ISBN 978-1-892041-50-0
• Physiognomy: The Mark Seliger Photographs, Bulfinch (1999) ISBN 978-0-8212-2598-1
• When They Came to Take My Father- voices of the Holocaust Arcade Publishing, (1996) ISBN 978-1-55970-305-5
• Rolling Stone the Complete Covers 1967-1997
• The city that finally sleeps (2021)

• Personal Website at www.markseliger.com
• Mark Seliger at IMDb
• PDN/Nikon Masters series site on Seliger