GEORGE ELANJIAN, JR.

Raised in the suburbs of Detroit, GEORGE ELANJIAN, JR attended Philadelphia College of Art (currently University of the Arts) in both film and photography. “The photo program at PCA in the 70's was clearly in the camp of fine art photography, and was very much focused on a street style of shooting.” Artists/instructors such as Ray Metzker, Barbara Blondeau, and Ron Walker challenged George to use photography to interpret rather than to record an image.

After graduating with a BFA in Photo and Film, George relocated to Los Angeles to pursue film production. Within 14 months, he became a member of the Directors Guild of America and became part of the first wave of reality program directors. While directing episodes for the program “ON TRIAL”, George became fascinated with the life and death drama of the courtroom.

Pursuing that deeper thread of drama, George returned to school in 1995, became certified as a legal assistant, and took up employment with the Los Angeles County Office of the Public Defender. Many people thought the career switch was extreme. “Not at all,” says George, “ its all story telling—only the arena is different. Plus, the stakes are much higher—which was missing from show biz.” George has since worked on variety criminal cases ranging from juvenile offenders to high profile death penalty cases, but the creative gene never strayed far—

George began began using his photography to enhance stories based on his travel adventures. The result, georgestories.com, caught the eye of award winning interior designer Janeen Swing. “There is so much heart to George’s work—creative writing combined with his photography made me wonder how he would apply photography to my commercial projects.”

It was an irresistible challenge. “For decades, I only shot for my myself. The idea of taking my own perspectives and applying it commercially via photography was too much to resist.” Using his creative writing as a director, and visuals as a photographer, George began to create unique photographic themes for Ms. Swings’ design projects. Currently, nearly one hundred Elanjian prints are in several corporate buildings around the country.

George continues to photograph with future projects to fulfill. As for his work with the Public Defenders office, “that place is always busy!”