Picturing Joy : Stories of connection

George Lange’s emotive, retrospective photography collection Picturing Joy captures the personalities of his subjects. In one exuberant image, a group of young African refugees plays on the beach, their likenesses caught mid-leap. Another picture focuses on Spike Lee; though he often seems dour in photographs by others, in Lange’s image, he is shown with a shy smile on his face and is photographed with children. Another shot shows the Violent Femmes peering out of the windshield of a car on a frosty night, illustrating the rigors of touring; their lack of pretension characterizes the alternative 1980s music scene.

Lange’s brief accompanying essays are full of anecdotes about public figures; he serves as a witness to moments in which people become vulnerable and reveal their true selves. Of a session with Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, who were photographed together while taunting each other under their breath, Lange remembers Jobs saying to Gates “You may tie me but you’ll never beat me.”
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