Mark Seliger was born in Amarillo, Texas, in 1959, where he lived with his parents, Maurice and Carol Lee, and his two older brothers and younger sister until 1964, when they moved to Houston.

Seliger’s early interest in photography began when his brother Frank promised to give him his Diana camera if he got a base hit in Little League. He didn’t get the hit, but he got on base (by getting a walk for getting hit in the shoulder with the ball), and the camera was his.

His first love quickly became the darkroom where he began experimenting with printing and developing in the family’s bathroom.

He attended Houston’s High School for Performing & Visual Arts and, from there, went on to attend East Texas State University, where his education began in earnest as he studied the history of documentary photography.

He moved to New York City in 1984. Seliger began working for ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE in 1987, and served as its chief photographer from 1992 to 2002 and shot over 100 covers for the magazine. Seliger lives and maintains his studio in New York City, and works for Conde Nast Publications. He continues to shoot covers for Rolling Stone, GQ and Vanity Fair.

Seliger has also published several books; created a number of CD covers; and directed short films.