George Pitts ''(né'' George Edward Pitts, Jr.; September 10, 1951 – March 4, 2017) was a

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

-based photographer.

Career

Pitts was, in 1993, the founding Director of Photography at ''

Vibe Magazine ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down production ...

'', and served in that role until 2004. He was an assistant professor of Photography at

Parsons School of Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...

. In 2004, he became the Director of Photography at ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'' magazine. His work has been published by ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine Supplement (publishing), supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted man ...

,'' ''Werk'', ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...

'', ''S Magazine'' and ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

.'' In addition to his photography, Pitts was also a writer, poet and painter. His writing and art have appeared in ''Big magazine'', ''S magazine'', ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Philip ...

'' and other locations. In 2006, he received the

Lucie Award The Lucie Awards is an annual event honoring achievements in photography, founded in 2003 by Hossein Farmani. The Lucie Awards is an annual gala ceremony presented by the Lucie Foundation (a 501 (c)3 non-profit charitable organization), honoring ...

for Picture Editor of the Year.

Education

From September 1969 to December 1969; Pitts studied Art, Creative writing, and Literature at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

. In 1971, Pitts won a 1st Prize while studying at the

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture is an artists residency located in Madison, Maine, just outside of Skowhegan. Every year, the program accepts online applications from emerging artists from November through January, and selects 65 t ...

Skowhegan, Maine Skowhegan () is the county seat of Somerset County, Maine. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 8,620. Every August, Skowhegan hosts the annual Skowhegan State Fair, the oldest continuously-held state fair in the United States. Skowh ...

. In 1973, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont. Founded in 1932 as a women's college, it became co-educational in 1969. It claims to be the first college to include visual and performing arts as an equal partner in ...

Death

Pitts died on March 4, 2017, after a long illness.

Family

Pitts was the son of newspaper journalist George Edward Pitts, Sr. (1925–1987), and Phyllis Forbes ''(maiden;'' 1931–2008).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitts, George 1951 births 2017 deaths Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture alumni American photographers Bennington College alumni Howard University alumni