George Tice, born in 1938 in Newark, New Jersey, is one of the most prominent fine-art photographers in the United States. His body of work has continually focused on the American landscape. He began photographing at the age of 14, when on the advice of a teacher he joined the Carteret Camera Club. A turning point in his training happened two years later, when a professional photographer critiquing club members’ work praised his picture of an alleyway. Tice briefly studied commercial photography at Newark Vocational and Technical High School. At sixteen he left high school to work as a darkroom assistant for a Newark portrait studio. A year later he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving as a photographers mate. In 1959, a published image he made of an explosion aboard the USS Wasp caught the eye of photographer Edward Steichen, who as director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art, acquired the print for the museum’s collection. Especially well known as a master printer, Tice printed for artists like Edward Steichen as well as printing the portfolios of such artists as Frederick H. Evans and Edward Weston.

For the next decade, Tice worked as a portrait photographer and helped establish The Witkin Gallery. His initial success enabled him to concentrate on personal projects. In the 1960s, Tice shifted from smaller camera formats to larger ones, which enabled him to craft carefully detailed prints when George Tice moved from professional to personal work, he turned his lens on the American urban and rural landscapes, attempting to capture the spirit of the place. Self-taught in the use of the view camera, Tice began photographing the Amish communities of Pennsylvania, a region close to where he grew up. Tice frequently returned to his area of Pennsylvania and over a span of eight years produced his well-known photo-essay on the Amish and Mennonite communities. For example, the Lancaster, Pennsylvania series concentrates on the daily life of the Amish people and their integration with the landscape around them. Tice’s other work features the architectural and industrial motifs that identify American Society. In 1969, Tice was included in the opening group show at the Witkin Gallery that set a precedent for photographic gallery exhibitions.

In the 1960s, Tice began further exploration of his home state of New Jersey. These photographs formed the beginnings of his Urban Landscape series, which he worked on until the year 2000. This theme continues to fascinate him. The combined strengths of his artistic vision and his meticulous technique have made him a photographer of considerable renown. In 1972, Tice had a one-man show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Patterson, New Jersey.  George Tice is drawn to the vestiges of American culture on the verge of extinction. Although he has photographed throughout the United States, he is best known for his pictures of his native New Jersey, and the impeccable quality of his black-and-white prints. In 2002, The International Center of Photography in New York City held another show to exhibit his exquisite Urban Landscapes. His portrayal of the beauty of the gritty city displayed the timeless qualities of Tice’s photographs.

Exhibited internationally, George Tice’s work represented in the collections of many institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, Smithsonian Institution, Los Angeles County Museum and the Bibliotheque Nationale. He has received numerous fellowships including the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television (UK) and the New Jersey State Council for the Arts, as well as receiving commissions from The Field Museum of Natural History, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, and the Museum of Modern Art. Tice has seventeen books published to date including: Fields of Peace: A Pennsylvania German Album (1970), Paterson, New Jersey (1972), Seacoast Maine: People and Places (1973), Urban Landscapes: A New Jersey Portrait (1975), and Hometowns: An American Pilgrimage (1988); Stone Walls, Grey Skies: A Vision of Yorkshire (1993).  His book Paterson: A New Jersey Portrait (1975) was awarded the Grand Prix du Festival d’Arles in 1973. In 2003, he received an honorary Doctorate of Human Letters Degree from William Paterson University and continues to exhibit his prints in galleries nationally.