‘Photography Is My Wife, Music Is My Mistress’

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Mark Seliger has been among the hardest-working men in the celebrity portrait business over the last quarter century, photographing thousands of boldface names, from President Obama and the Dalai Lama to Jay-Z and Johnny Cash.

Mr. Seliger has become a bit of a photo celebrity himself, making over 150 covers for Rolling Stone and working extensively for Vanity Fair, GQ and numerous high-end commercial clients. He’s a favorite of photo editors stuck for a cover idea and is booked at least three times a week.

What’s less known is that he has been living a double life for more than a decade.

Mark Seliger Johnny Depp, 2003.

In addition to his photographing most of the famous popular musicians, he has been the lead singer of his own group â€" Rusty Truck. In Tuesday’s New York Times, James McKinley writes of Mr. Seliger’s musical adventures and “Kicker Town,” his group’s new album.

Mr. Seliger wrote 11 songs for the album, all in a traditional country style. During a phone interview with Lens, he cited similarities between songwriting and photographing.

“It’s the same process of storytelling,” he said. “I think a great photograph and a great song both come from an effortlessness â€" not thinking about it too hard and allowing yourself to just enjoy it.”

In photography, the enjoyment must extend to the subject as well, he said, because it’s only when the subject is relaxed that an unguarded natural moment might happen.

Mark Seliger Jack and Sol Tavin, Holocaust survivors, 1995.

“Having your picture taken is not a natural experience,” said Mr. Seliger, 54. “I want them to come and have one of the best times they ever had.”

Though Mr. Seliger is a master of lighting, he says that he is not that interested in photography’s technical aspects. For him, a great portrait comes from composition, the emotional response and the storytelling.

He has honed his technique, and his storytelling chops, over a career that started when he was a photo assistant in Houston. He moved to New York from Texas in 1984 and was soon working steadily. In 1992, he became Rolling Stone’s chief photographer.

Mark Seliger Kurt Cobain, 1993.

The songwriting started soon afterward, but he didn’t do much with it until he formed Rusty Truck about 10 years ago. He says he has had to learn to trust himself as a musician in the same way he trusts himself as a photographer.

While he sees his songwriting as similar to photography, performing music is quite different, he says. In photography he’s in control of the entire experience. In music he’s playing off the energy of the other musicians.

He says he is intent on finding a creative outlet through the Internet, taking pictures, making films or publishing a number of books.

“I keep my fingers crossed that magazines will still have some relevance in five years,” he said.

In the meantime, he continues to pursue his twin passions.

“Photography is my wife, music is my mistress,” he said.

That sounds like a pretty good title for a country song.

Mark Seliger 2007.

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