George Tice, a self-taught photographer
who began taking pictures at the age of 14, is best known for his virtuoso
technique and unique vision of American rural and urban landscapes. His talents
were first recognized by Edward Steichen, for whom he later worked as master printer.
Subsequently Tice was honored by a one-man show at the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, and more recently by fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the
National Endowment for the Arts.

One of Tice's most innovative contributions
has been the elevation of the photography book to an independent art form, in
which the individual photographs "are like the frames of a film or lines
of a poem that go together" to express an overarching theme. He has
published eleven such photographic books, earning the Grand Prix du Festival
d'Arles for the best photography book of the year in 1973.

Amish Boy, from the
photography book Fields of Peace: A Pennsylvania German Album, demonstrates
Tice's ability to distill a fleeting moment into its most essential
elements. Contrasting the open gaze of a youthful, freckled face with
the timeless weathered post and somber Amish costume, Tice engages a
spare romanticism which is at odds with most contemporary photography,
but integral to his search in all subjects for formal beauty and
dignity.