International Lens-man Greg George Shoots from the hip side of life Most people wouldn't know how to survive living on the street's at the age of sixteen but that's how old Palm Springs photographer…

International Lens-man Greg George

Shoots from the hip side of life

Most people wouldn't know how to survive living on the street's at the age
of sixteen but that's how old Palm Springs photographer Greg George was
when in 1977 this Kentucky native was told by his grandmother "there's
no place for your kind here". His rough redneck upbringing and a
determination "to be somebody" is what led George to complete high
school early at the London Kentucky Finishing School before making the
next logical step.

After moving to New York in 1978 George was quickly discovered by famed photographer
Francesco Scavullo, who frequented the bar George worked at. Modeling
gig's followed and he became a regular for the French Design House
Wuomo as well as being the house model for John Michael Venturi.

Working as a model George became interested in fashion and discovered he was a
natural and could make a sewing machine sing. Studying abroad at the
Marangoni Fine Arts Institute in Milan he honed his God given talent
for fashion design and pattern cutting coupled them with his quick
study of French and Italian and at the height of his career was
designing 45 collections a season for labels such as Max Mara, Krizia
Jeans, Marzatto and a popular line of children's clothing Scooby Doo.
One of the things George is most proud of is his work with chemical
giant DuPont in introducing lycra to denim fiber and creating the
worlds first stretch jeans.

No longer satisfied with fashion design George became intrigued with photography
and looked to men such as Herb Ritts, Helmut Newton, Victor Scribneski
and French Photographer Guy Bordin as his inspiration in what was to
become the next chapter in his life, photography.

The seven years George spent working in Hollywood as a unit still
photographer; for those who aren't hip to the industry lingo, the Unit
Still Photographer shoots simultaneously alongside the film crew, these
shots are then used to market and promote the film, coupled with his
part in the 2000 movies and television shows has given George the rare
pleasure of working with the who's who of Hollywood that includes
Robert DeNiro, John Travolta, Tom Cruise, Halle Berry, Sharon Stone and
Barbara Streisand on films such as Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Crash,
Sideways, Monsters Ball and Brokeback Mountain to name but a few. However
it was the phone call he received in London to shoot a young up and
coming twelve year old enigmatic actress by the name of Angelina Jolie
that forever will remain his favorite subject.

George moved to the desert in 2006 to remove himself from the "LA Scene" and
address personal demons he himself was facing. As a 25 year survivor of
HIV and having lost two lovers to the pandemic coupled with the
frenetic pace of Hollywood and to a large degree unresolved issues from
his childhood, it should come as no surprise that George found solace
in alcohol and drugs.

Clean and Sober George's new vision and clarity gives a fresh focus to his art form,
and mirrors his philosophy of photography; as he puts it, "My
Photography should transcend time, and allow the viewer room for their
own interpretation."