Jason Langer

BIOGRAPHY

Born in 1967 in Tucson, Arizona, photographer Jason Langer makes work underpinned by Buddhist philosophy. Graduating with a BA in Photography from the University of Oregon in 1989, his first major project, Shadow, explored existential ideas relating to the fragility of the human body. In the 1990s he made Secret City, a series of night photographs of distant, anonymous men in New York, whose faces were darkened or obscured to represent egolessness.

In 2007 Langer started a decade-long project titled Figures, featuring studies of strangers inspired by Buddhist and Jungian teachings on masculine and feminine principles; in the same year he began photographing couples making love, exploring Buddhist aspects of the mind in union. This work was exhibited as The Diamond and the Lotus in 2012. Langer has published four books to date - Secret City (2006, Nazraeli Press), Possession (2013, Nazraeli Press), a mid-career retrospective Twenty Years (Radius Books, 2015) and Berlin (2022, Kerber Verlag).

Langer’s work has been exhibited by institutions such as Benrubi Gallery (NYC), Kopeikin Gallery (Los Angeles), and ClampArt, (NYC) and supported by grants and awards from the Ford Family Foundation, The Oregon Arts Commission, PX3 Prix de la Photographie, Paris, the Joy of Giving Something Foundation, The Wood Institute, Madrid Foto, and the Palm Beach Photographic Centre’s Fotofusion Rising Star Award. His images are held in the permanent collections of Yale University Art Gallery, Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgets University, Sir Elton John, Sir Mick Jagger, and International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum, among others, and are represented by CLAMP (NYC), Galerie Esther Woerdehoff (Paris), and Gilman Contemporary (Idaho).

Langer taught photography for the Academy of Art University, San Francisco, for more than a decade, and currently teaches for Santa Fe Workshops, Medium San Diego and is a faculty member of Photo Phlo. He lives in Portland, Oregon and is currently working on two projects – Stumptown Portraits, and Samsara: the Wheel of Life and Transcendence, which reflects the Buddhist cycle of birth, death, and rebirth following his father’s passing in 2019.

CURRICULUM VITAE

  • Photographer 1990 - Present

  • Photo-educator and author for Academy of Art University, 1998–2010

  • Private assistance, printer and photo-retoucher for: Michael Kenna, Ruth Bernhard, Arthur Tress, James Fee, Hansel Meith, among others 1990-2004

  • Received BA from University of Oregon, 1985-1989

  • Lived in Ashland, OR 1977-1985

  • Lived on Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek, Israel 1973-1977

  • Born: United States, Tucson, AZ 1967

PRINTS AVAILABLE FROM

CLAMP, New York, NY

Gilman Contemporary, Ketchum, ID

ONE AND TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS

  • Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, Portland, OR - Berlin, Spring, 2025

  • Holocaust Museum Houston, Berlin: A Jewish Ode to the Metropolis - July. 13 - September 10, 2023

  • CLAMP, New York, NY - Berlin: Friends & Lovers - May 7 - June 30, 2023

  • Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery, Vancouver BC - Berlin: A Jewish Ode to the Metropolis, January 6 - February 17, 2023

  • Museum of History and Holocaust Education, Kennesaw, GA - Berlin: A Jewish Ode to the Metropolis, August 25 - November 15, 2022

  • ClampArt, New York, NY/ Arsty - Figures, July 29 - September 11, 2021

  • Charles A. Hartman Fine Art, Portland, OR - Possession, March 5-29, 2014

  • Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris, FR, Les Deux Magots - "Urbanism," May 15-June 30, 2013

  • Gilman Contemporary, Ketchum, ID - Retrospective, November 1 - December 20, 2012

  • Brick Wall Gallery, Spokane, WA - The Diamond and The Lotus, April 5 – March 14, 2012

  • Wessel O'Connor, Lambertville, NJ – Male Figure Studies, March 31 – May 20, 2012

  • Brucie Collections, Kiev, UA - Nightbook, January 2 – March 14, 2012

  • Packard Reath Gallery , Lewes, DE - After Hours, July 7 – August 19, 2012

  • Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris, FR - New Work, January, 2012

  • SFO Museum, San Francisco, CA – Berlin, September 1- November 30, 2011

  • Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla, CA - Female Figures, May 6 - June 6, 2011

  • Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris, FR - New Work, April 7-April 30, 2011

  • Aplanat, Hamburg, DE - Secret City, April 16-May 29, 2010

  • Galerie Hiltawsky, Berlin, DE - Secret City, January 14-March 6, 2010

  • Charles A. Hartman Fine Art, Portland, OR - The Female Nude, December 2009- January 30, 2010

  • Michael Hoppen Gallery, London, UK - Secret City, November 20 – January 20 2009

  • Charles A. Hartman Fine Art, Portland, OR - Secret City, April 2 – April 26, 2008

  • Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY - Secret City, July 12 – September 15, 2007

  • Palm Beach Photographic Center, Delray Beach, FL - Secret City: A Ten-Year Retrospective of Photographs January 6 – February 18, 2006

  • Shapiro Gallery, San Francisco, CA - Secret City, July 6 - August 7, 1999

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

  • Head-On Photo Festival, Sydney Australia - Michael and Kam, 2022 - November 8 - December 1, 2024

  • Colorado Photographic Arts Center, Denver, CO. - Lost & Found: An Analog Forever Magazine Exhibition. October 11 - November 23, 2024.

  • Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris - Ritz, Parc Monceau, Paris - February 15 - March 31, 2024

  • CEPA Gallery, Buffalo NY - The Power of Resilience and Hope - Photography and the Holocaust Then and Now, January - March, 2024

  • Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA - 8x10 Fundraising Exhibition, September 16 – October 7, 2022 

  • Texas Photographic Society: TPS 30 Russell Hill Rogers Lecture Hall and Gallery at the UTSA Southwest Campus, August 16 through September 24, 2022

  • Photo London, Images from “Secret City” and “Possession”, Somerset House, May 12-15, 2022, Galerie Esther Woerdehoff

  • Texas Photographic Society: TPS 30 Center for Contemporary Arts in Abilene, Texas, on January 13-August, 2022

  • Museum Der Stadt Bensheim, Bensheim Germany - “Women Are Still Beautiful, Second Flirts and Other Street Photographs from the Freddy Langer Collection” November 7 - February 7, 2021

  • Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris, FR - Esprit Urbain, October 28, 2021

  • Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA - 8x10 Fundraising Exhibition, September 16 – October 7, 2021 

  • Gilman Contemporary, Ketchum, ID - It Was All A Dream, August 18 – September 30, 2021

  • Gilman Contemporary, Ketchum ID - The Secret Society, September 2, 2016

  • Los Angeles Center of Photography, Los Angeles, CA - LACP Faculty Exhibition, May 15-29, 2015

  • Art Gallery La Musa de Adeje, Tenerife, SP – Secret City, November – December, 2015

  • Fotonoviembre XIII Bienal Internacional de Fotografia de Tenerife, SP – Secret City, November – December, 2015

  • Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris, FR - Drive In, October 18, 2014

  • Galerija Fotografija, Ljubljana, SI - Drive In, July 17 – July 26, 2014

  • Binding Image, Tetterode, NL - Second Edition 2014, February 8-9, 2014

  • Charles A. Hartman Fine Art, Portland, OR - Shine, January 2- February 21, 2014

  • Bonhams, Los Angeles, CA, - Classic Photographs, January 18 & 19, 2014

  • International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum, St. Louis, MO - Decisive Moments, February 7 - April 27, 2014

  • Wessell + O’Connor Lambertville, NJ - Photo LA, April 26 – 28, 2013

  • Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris, FR - Paris Photo, January 2 – February 28, 2013

  • Charles A. Hartman Fine Art, Portland, OR - Selections Four: A Collection of Photographs, May 2 - June 1, 2013

  • Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Madrid, Spain - Madrid Photo, June 6 - July 22, 2012

  • Charles A. Hartman Fine Art, Portland, OR - Gun: A Collection of Photographs, February 29 - March 31, 2012

  • Helms Daylight Studio, Culver City, CA - Classic Photographs of Los Angeles, January 14 - 15, 2012

  • Charles A. Hartman Fine Art, Portland, OR - Selections Two: Recently Acquired Paintings and Photographs, August 3 - 27, 2011

  • Gilman Contemporary, Ketchum, ID - Smoke and Mirrors: The Magic of Photography, December 20 – February 4, 2010

  • Gilman Contemporary, Ketchum, ID - Introduction, July 1 – July 31, 2010

  • Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY - Globetrotting, September 17th - November 28th, 2009

  • Charles A. Hartman Fine Art, Portland, OR, Faces: Vintage and Contemporary Photographic Portraits, August 5-29, 2009

  • Photographer's Gallery, Los Angeles, CA - Invitation - Spring Show, July 16-August 27, 2009

  • Michael Hoppen Gallery, London, UK - Open House, December 2008

  • Peer Gallery, New York, NY - Degrees of Separation, July 12 – September 8, 2007

  • Galerie Hiltawsky, Berlin, DE - Homage to Irving Penn, June 19th – August 4, 2007

  • Photographer's Gallery, Los Angeles, CA - Invitation - Spring Show, April, 2007

  • Shapiro Gallery, San Francisco, CA - Re-examining the Male and Female Nude, October 2 – November 30, 2003

  • Shapiro Gallery, San Francisco, CA - Selections from the Gallery Collection, September 5 – October 26, 2002

  • Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY - Night Life, March 1 – April 15, 2001

  • Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY - Let's Have Lunch, May 31 – July 13, 2001

  • Shapiro Gallery, San Francisco, CA - Selections from the Gallery, October 3 - October 28, 2000

  • Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA - Introductions, July 10 – August 29, 1998

  • Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, CA - New Works in Photography, December 12 – January 15, 1993

  • Rayko Photo, San Francisco, CA - Annual, September 13 – November 13, 1990



SELECTED PERMANENT COLLECTIONS

  • Gap/Banana Republic

  • Heineken International

  • Hirsch Library, MFAH Maquette Collection

  • Le Musée de la Photographie

  • Museum of Fine Arts Houston

  • W.M. Hunt permanent collection

  • International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum, St. Louis

  • Sir Mick Jagger permanent collection

  • Sir Elton John permanent collection

  • JGS Foundation

  • Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin

  • Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art

  • Yale University Art Gallery

  • Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University

MONOGRAPHS

  • Berlin, Published by Kerber Verlag, 2022

  • Twenty Years, Published by Radius Books, 2015

  • Possession Published by Nazraeli Press, 2013

  • Secret City, Published by Nazraeli Press, 2006

PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTIONS IN PRINT

  • Constable and Robinson

PROFILED

  • Forward Jewish Independent, To Be a Jew in Berlin, May 2023

  • Collector Daily June 8, 2023 Berlin, Friends and Lovers at CLAMP

  • Photographie Magazine, Berlin Schatten des Vergangenen, July/ August 2023

  • B+W Magazine Berlin, 2023

  • Jerusalem Post, The Clash of Eras, December, 2022

  • Art Daily, Berlin, December, 2022

  • L'Oeil de la Photographie, Berlin, November, 2022

  • Analog Forever Magazine, Berlin, Winter, 2022

  • All About Photo, Berlin, September, 2022

  • Black & White Magazine, Berlin, April, 2022

  • Progresso Fotografico Magazine, Italy, Workshops, 2021

  • Lenscratch, Jason Langer: Twenty Years, 2021

  • Physique Pictorial 58, Liminal Jason Langer, Autumn 2021

  • Catalyst Interviews, Jason Langer, September 2020

  • Black + White Magazine - American Connection, Erika, September 2020

  • New York Times, Finding the Noir Without Looking, January, 2016

  • L'Oeil de la Photographie, "Twenty Years," September, 2015

  • Photo-eye Reviews, Proverbs by Gregori Maiofis, July 2015

  • Slate "These Dark, Mysterious Photos of London will Keep You Up at Night," July, 2015

  • Photo District News Picks of the Month, Twenty Years, June 2015

  • Lenscratch, Twenty Years, June, 2015

  • Resource Twenty Years, June, 2015

  • iPhoto Central, Twenty Years, 2015

  • American Photography's Pro Photo Daily Twenty Years, February, 2015

  • Amateur Photographer, Twenty Years, 2015

  • Le Monde de la Photo, Twenty Years, July, 2015

  • A Photo Editor, Jason Langer Interview, February, 2014

  • Black and White Magazine "American Connection," October, 2013

  • Lensa Magazine, Possession, December, 2013

  • B & W Magazine "Ten Spotlight Winners," December, 2013

  • Fraction Magazine, Possession, 2013

  • Oregonian, Portland, OR A World Transformed by Dark of Night, November 2013

  • Blake Andrews, Eugene, OR, Q and A with Jason Langer, December, 2012

  • Cape Gazette, Lewes, DE, City Lights, July 4, 2012

  • Digital Photographer, Ukraine, 2012

  • Portland Tribune, Portland, OR, 10 Questions for Jason Langer, 2010

  • Art Limited, London, 2008

  • Kult, Skrivnostno mesto, Romania, 2007

  • Picture Magazine, Books, January/ February, 2007

  • American Photo, Spotlight On Jason Langer, October 2, 2006

  • American Photo, Thanks for the Memories, Summer, 2006

  • Double Exposure, Photos to Inspire: Jason Langer, March, 2007

  • Bomb, Jason Langer, Summer 2006

  • Vanity Fair, Fanfare, August 2006

  • B&W Magazine, Spotlight, February, 2002

  • Popular Photography, Shadow Man, June 2000

  • American Photo, The Art of America, 1997

  • Photo Metro, Editorial: Jason Langer, August, 1995

  • Photo Metro, Editorial: Jason Langer, 1994

  • Magical Blend, Jason Langer Photographs, August, 1993

REVIEWS

  • Photobook Journal, March 2023

  • Atlanta Jewish Times, Berlin:A Jewish Ode to the Metropolis, September, 2022

  • A Photo Editor, Erika, 2021

  • Photo-eye Reviews, Twenty Years, August 2015

  • Oregonian "Noir-Like Images Capture Danger and Romance at Night," 2013

  • Photo District News Possession - "Picks of the Month" June, 2013

  • PhotoIcon, Secret City: Langer & Doisneau, January, 2009

  • Acuphoto, Secret City: Langer & Doisneau, January, 2009

  • Don't Panic, Secret City: Langer & Doisneau, January, 2009

  • Sloane Square, December Briefing, December 2008

  • The New York Sun, Hidden In Plain Sight, August 30, 2007

  • The New Yorker, Karine Laval/ Jason Langer, Leisure, August 27, 2007

  • American Photo, Photo Books to Write Home About, 2007

  • Artweek, Jason Langer at Shapiro Gallery, September 1999

RECORDED INTERVIEWS

  • The Candid Frame Podcast, August, 2023

  • Right Eye Dominant Podcast, Berlin, 2023

  • Got Punctum Podcast, Berlin, July, 2022

  • SE Center for Photography, Artist Talk: Jason Langer, 2021

  • United States of Photography, 2021 with Grant Scott

  • Biblioscapes Podcast with Euan Ross, 2021

  • Los Angeles Center of Photography, Conversations with Contemporary Photographers, 2021

  • United States of Photography, 2021 with Grant Scott

  • Everyday Photography with Michael Rubin, 2019

  • Thoughts On Photography with Paul Giguere, 2009

PHILANTHROPY

  • Center for Photographic Art Fundraising Auction, 2022

  • Center for Photographic Art Fundraising Auction, 2021

  • Houston Center for Photography Fundraising Auction, 2021

  • Center for Photographic Art Fundraising Auction, 2020

  • Phoenix Art Museum INFOCUS Photobid, 2016

  • Radius Books Auction, Langer Oddities, 2015

  • Focus On Youth, 2010

  • Breast Friends, April, 2010

  • Focus on AIDS 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

  • Bomb, 26th Anniversary Auction, 2007

  • Center for Photographic Art Benefit Auction, 2004

  • Friends Without A Border, 2003

  • Eyewitness I, Graduate School of Journalism, 2003

  • Carousel of Hope, Children's Diabetes Foundation, 2002

  • PS Arts, Photography Auction, 2001

  • SF Camerawork, Annual Photography Auction, 1990 - 2001

  • Out Gay & Lesbian Center, Los Angeles, 1997

  • The Vision Gallery, San Francisco, 1993-1994

  • Eye Gallery, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Annual Benefit Auction

  • Festival At the Lake, Oakland, CA, 1990

AWARDS AND GRANTS

  • The Ford Family Foundation, 2022

  • The JGS Foundation

  • Oregon Arts Commission, 2022

  • PX3 Prix de la Photographie, Paris, Book Award, Silver Prize Berlin, 2022

  • The Wood Institute Grant, 2012

  • Top Prize, Madrid Foto 2012

  • Fotofusion Rising Star Award, Palm Beach Photographic Centre 2006

PUBLIC LECTURES

  • Albert and Ethel Herzstein Theater, Holocaust Museum Houston, Houston Texas, Berlin, July 12, 2023

  • In Conversation with Thomas Schestag, Passages Bookshop, Portland, OR June 11, 2023

  • Taubman Endowed Symposia, UCSB, Berlin, April 16, 2023

  • Ashe Emeth Memorial Temple, New Brunswick, NJ, February 1, 2023

  • Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery, Vancouver BC, January 26, 2023

  • Museum of History and Holocaust Education, Kennesaw State University, November 9, 2022

  • Center for Photographic Art, August, 2022

  • Portland Art Museum, October 16, 2013

  • SF Camerawork, April 21, 1999

TEACHING AND AUTHORING

  • The Red Purse by Jacque Rupp. Afterward, Daylight Books, 2023

  • Proverbs by Gregori Maofis, Photo-eye Blog, July, 2015

  • Academy of Art University, 1998-2010
    Fine Art Portraiture, Landscape As Fine Art, Visualization, Fine Art Project 1, Fine Art Project 2, Architecture As Landscape, Contemporary Fine art Practices, Fundamentals of Photography, Digital Photography, People Illustration, Digital Photography for Artists, Editorial Photography

WORKSHOPS

  • The CORE, Photo Phlo Online Weekly, Ongoing

  • Exploring the Secrets of the Night, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, NM October, 2024

  • Exploring the Secrets of the Night, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, Santa Fe, NM June, 2023

  • Photographing Intimacy, with Cheryle St. Onge, Medium Photo San Diego, April, 2023

  • Mastering Low Light and Night Photography with Lynn Saville, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, July 6, 2022

  • Our Inner Monologue, Los Angeles Center of Photography, Los Angeles, October, 2021

  • Finding Your Photographic Voice, Medium Photo, San Diego, March, 2021

  • The Photographic Journey; Refining Your Vision, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, Santa Fe, NM September, 2020

  • Exploring the Secrets of the Night, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, Santa Fe, NM May, 2020

  • The Photographic Obsession, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, Santa Fe, NM March, 2017

  • Santa Fe Photographic Workshops "Shots In the Dark," Spring 2014

  • The Fine Art Nude, Newspace Center for Photography, Portland, OR April, 2010

ENDORSEMENTS

  • Crane, Museo Silver Rag, Featured Photographer, June 2008

CURATING AND JUDGING

  • Analog Forever Magazine Call for Entries, The Psychology of Night, August, 2020

  • Roving Reviewer, Photolucida, Portland, OR, 2019

  • Roving Reviewer, Photolucida, Portland, OR, 2017

  • 2014 ASMP PDX

  • Portland Photographers Forum, Members' Portfolio Review, September 2008

  • Friends of Photography, Members' Portfolio Review, June 2001

  • Advertising Photographers of America, Something Personal, September 12, 2000