EXHIBITION DETAILS
Portraits
Feb 4 - Mar 19, 2011
Public / Artists’ Reception: Feb 4 from 6-9pm
Rodney Smith: is a master photographer who studied under Walker Evans in 1975 at Yale. After the publication of his first book “The Land of Light”, he lectured at numerous universities around the world including, Columbia University, The University of Mexico, University of Madrid, Harvard University and Goethe University. Rodney returned to Yale to earn a degree in Divinity and became an adjunct professor. His second book “The Hat Book” was published by Nan A. Talses/Doubleday in 1993. Rodney has had numer ous exhibitions and has won 75 awards. His work is collected by Carnegies, Whitneys, and Rockefellers as well as museum and orchestra patrons and rock stars. His work is represented in every important gallery across the globe.
JURORS STATEMENT
I both enjoy judging photographic competitions and dislike it. I don’t enjoy being put in the position of making decisions about what is distinguished and what isn’t. You must understand that an exhibition judged by a single person (or by committee) basically represents as much about the juror’s voice as much as the photographs being judged. So for all of those who did not make the final selects, please do not despair. Keep working and enjoy making pictures. Also, just for those who are interested, the initial edit was 100 pictures in which I had an extremely hard time editing down the final choices to the following images. You could just as easily had an exhibition of the 50 images that were discarded from the final edit.
I was as much interested in putting together an exhibition that was compatible and diverse as a group, as I was interested in the individual photographs. As you can see my definition of a portrait is quite liberal, and while I am more than eager to accept the edges of what constitutes a portrait, some other juror may have been more conservative in their selects.
Although while looking at almost 3,000 images, some of them quite banal and uninteresting, when something quite extraordinary pops out it immediately is recognized for its distinctive qualities. What is it about those pictures that makes them more powerful, more visually arresting than the others? For me it is not only their aesthetic choices but also their ability to tap into a part of their being that they may or may not be aware of. These individual pictures are like the juror, portraits of the photographers as much as they are portraits of the individuals they photograph. Perhaps the more arresting pictures are not only the choice of composition and subject (although I am sure this is somewhat helpful) it is in fact more about learning to touch upon a place in yourself that needs to be exposed.
You do not have to travel around the world to discover a place to find your voice. It could be in your own house. But wherever it is, reach out to the people you are photographing. Hold their hands. Hug them photographically. Remember, great portraiture is more about giving than taking.
- Rodney Smith
