MPS Digital Photography presents a talk with Leslie Smolan, executive director of the Estate of Rodney Smith. For more than forty years, she was the creative director of Carbone Smolan Agency, an internationally renowned design and branding firm in New York City. Smolan had a thirty-year collaboration with photographer Rodney Smith as his client, creative partner and wife. Today, she is actively engaged in preserving, enhancing and sharing Smith’s legacy.
Rodney Smith (1947-2016) was a prominent New York-based photographer in the tradition of Richard Avedon, Irving Penn and William Klein, transitioning from the world of fashion photography to fine art. With a career that lasted more than 45 years, Smith created enchanted worlds full of subtle contradictions and surprises. Smith wrote, “I want people to see the beauty and whimsy in life, not its ugliness. I represent a world that is possible if people act their best.” Using only film and light, his un-retouched, dream-like images are matched in quality by the craft and physical beauty of his prints. Smith’s artworks are collected by museums and private individuals around the world.
The i3: Images, Ideas, Inspiration lecture series has returned to in-person events. The series continues to feature leading photographers, artists, editors, gallerists and industry experts. The spring 2024 i3 lecture series is hosted and curated by Julie Grahame, curator, editor and vice-president of the American Photography Archives Group.
Click on the link for information about SVA's one-year master's degree program in Digital Photography. sva.edu/academics/graduate/mp...