| | | | | | | | | Rodney Smith, Erin in Green, Snedens Landing, New York, 2014 | | | | | | A Leap of Faith | | | | 6 May – 30 June 2023 | | | | VERNISSAGE, BOOK SIGNING & CURATOR'S DISCUSSION - SATURDAY MAY 6TH 2-5PM | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | RODNEY SMITH
SAORI ON SEA PLANE WING NO. 2, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, 2010
20 x 20 inches
50.8 x 50.8 cm | | | | | | Elegant, charming, and stunningly beautiful, Rodney Smith’s fashion photography is a delightful revelation.
Mystery and manners, romance and fun—the sophisticated compositions and stylish characters in the extraordinary pictures of fashion photographer Rodney Smith (1947–2016) exist in a timeless world of his imagination. Born in New York City, Smith started out as a photo-essayist, turned to portrait photography, and found his niche, and greatest success, in fashion photography. Inspired by W. Eugene Smith, taught by Walker Evans, and devoted to the techniques of Ansel Adams, Smith was driven by the dual ideals of technical mastery and pure beauty. | | | | | | | | | RODNEY SMITH
TWINS IN TREE, SNEDENS LANDING, NYBLO-0999-020-08, 1999
gelatin silver print
10.5 x 10.5 inches/ 22 x 26 inches
26.67 x 26.67 cm | | | | | | | Best known for his exceptional fashion photographs, Rodney Smith’s life in photography brought him full circle—away from everything that he knew, and then back to the place he so desperately tried to leave behind. Over the course of a successful career that lasted more than 45 years, Smith developed a unique photographic vision, one that is beautiful, ordered, and inhabited by well-dressed ladies and gentlemen. In each of his carefully crafted compositions, Smith banishes the chaos of modern life for another that is grounded in a romantic view of the past. Like Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, he asks us to follow him down the rabbit hole to a fantastical place that is just beyond our reach, but one intended to inspire us to be better versions of ourselves. For Smith, who, like many gifted creatives, suffered from bouts of depression and anxiety, photography was a means of staying engaged with the world around him. It was also a tool for spiritual exploration and self-understanding. | | | | | | | | | RODNEY SMITH
EDYTHE AND ANDREW KISSING ON TOP OF TAXIS, NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 2008
Archival pigment print
Edition of 25
40 x 40 in | | | | | | "I put my life on the line for photography and it returned the effort with abundance," Smith wrote in 2014, "Its gift back to me was a me devoid of most of my neuroses. One who is clear sharp and energetic."
-Paul Martineau, Curator of Photography at the J. Paul Getty Museum | | | | | | | | | RODNEY SMITH
WOMAN WITH HAT BETWEEN HEDGES, PARC DE SCEAUX, FRANCE, 2004
Archival pigment print
Edition of 25
20 x 20 in | | | | | | ANNOUNCING RODNEY SMITH: A LEAP OF FAITH
- PUBLISHED BY THE J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM
AVAILABLE MAY 16TH, 2023
With an introduction by Graydon Carter, Leap of Faith is the definitive record of the life's work and worldview of a truly timeless artist. | | | | | |
This lavish volume features nearly two hundred reproductions of Smith’s images—many that have never before been published—and weaves together a biocritical essay by Getty Museum curator Paul Martineau and a technical assessment of Smith’s production by the Center for Creative Photography’s chief curator, Rebecca A. Senf. It maps Smith’s creative trajectory—including his introduction to photography, early personal projects, teaching, commissioned pieces, and career in fashion—and provides insight into his personal life and character, contextualizing his work and creative tendencies within his privileged but lonely upbringing and complex emotional and psychological makeup. Rodney Smith is the definitive record of the life’s work and worldview of a truly original artist.
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© 3 May 2023 photography now UG (haftungsbeschränkt) i.G.
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Editor: Claudia Stein & Michael Steinke
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