Episode 10: Aline Smithson and Finding a Visual Voice: Something Universal, Something Healing
Aline Smithson grew up in Los Angeles, where, she said, “I was always drawing.” She went to art school, and developed a practice of large format painting. She later moved to New York City, working for ten years in the fashion industry. She said she learned a lot from her time there, especially from the photographers. She left NYC to return to LA, took a class in photography and realized that she “could use the camera to make art.”
By her own lights, she worked “anonymously” for eight years. She is anything but anonymous in the world of photography now. In 2007, she began LENSCRATCH with the audacious goal of writing about a different photographer every day, all year round. LENSCRATCH is still going today, not only with profiles of photographers and their work but with series, “how-to” videos, publication and submission information, and much more. It is an online community of and for photographers, helping to launch the careers of countless photographic artists.
In her work as an educator, Smithson becomes energized when talking about how her students discover their “visual voice,” and offer a body of work that “tells their own story” in such a way that it tells the stories of others as well. This “ah ha” moment unites her students to universal experience. Ever eager to promote fellow photographers, Smithson recalls a story of Phillip Toledano, who created a body of work about his father’s dementia. When he posted the work, he gained over a million hits, with comments from ordinary viewers telling him that his work provided “a visual language for the experience of others” who had loved ones with dementia.
“Fur 2005,” a handpainted silver gelatin print by Aline Smithson, named one of the best workshop instructors by PDN readers (Smithson’s daughter Charlotte is the subject of the image).
As much as Smithson is energized about the variety of methods and “interventions” employed by photographers today, she worries that a dependence on digitization might lead to loss. Our age is probably one of the most photographically documented ages, but hard drives may crash, and online storage platforms or applications will change.
“Fugue State speaks to the potential loss of the tangible photograph in future generations.”
“Fugue State Revisited, is an on-going exploration of the future legacies of photography, with a focus on the life span of digital files.”
Smithson works in analogue photography, savoring its slow pace, its layers, and its requirement that decisions about art need to be addressed before the shot is made, not after a shot is taken. Art for her resides in the camera, whereas in the digital process art comes in the editing. In both cases, however, photographic artists do more than “take” photographs; they “make” them, elevating the world and their subjects into something more, something universal, something healing.
“LANDSCAPE MEDIATIONS (IN PROGRESS)”
“UNDERCOVER - In the dark days of strict self-quarantining, I felt a profound loss to my photographic portrait practice, in addition, a general malaise and sense of isolation. With the mandate to wear masks, I considered not only the loss of identity with faces obscured by swaths of fabric, but the loss of connectivity with friends and family. I thought about the historical legacy of wearing masks in cultures all over the globe that allowed for story-telling and new personas, and it reminded me of the humorous paper bag masks created by illustrator Saul Steinberg in the 1950’s.”
“This series had serendipitous beginnings. I found a small print of Whistler’s painting, Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter’s Mother, at a neighborhood garage sale. The same weekend, I found a leopard coat and hat, a 1950’s cat painting, and what looked like the exact chair from Whistler’s painting. That started me thinking about the idea of portraiture, the strong compositional relationships going on within Whistler’s painting, and the evocative nature of unassuming details.
The series incorporates traditional photography techniques, yet becomes richer with the treatment of hand painting. It is my intent to have the viewer see the work in a historical context with the addition of color, and at the same time, experience Whistler’s simple, yet brilliant formula for the composition. My patient 85 year-old mother posed in over 20 ensembles, but unfortunately passed away before seeing the finished series. I am grateful for her sense of humor and the time this series allowed us to be together.”
Since its inception in 2007, LENSCRATCH has featured the work of thousands of photographers and has provided a platform to launch portfolios, books, and exhibitions serving as a is a rich resource for educators and photographers.
“LENSCRATCH is an online platform dedicated to supporting and celebrating the photographic arts and photographic artists through exposure, discussion, community collaboration, and education. Our goal is to provide a forum for rich critical and cultural discourse on the complex role this medium plays in the world, always aiming to reflect the vast array of voices and perspectives within our photographic community. Through grants, awards, exhibitions, and dedicated features, LENSCRATCH also seeks to uplift emerging and student artists who will be the next generation shaping the power and purpose of this wonderful medium.”
Aline was recently interviewed for Frames Magazine - THE FEMALE GAZE: Aline Smithson: Inspiration, Talent, and Grace, by Diana Nicholette Jeon.
