Join us along with Paul Martineau, Curator of Photographs at the J. Paul Getty Museum and Leslie Smolan, Executive Director of the Rodney Smith Estate, in celebrating the release of Rodney Smith: A Leap of Faith published by Getty Publications.
Born in New York City, Rodney Smith (1947-2016) developed his extraordinary eye over the course of 4 decades. Starting his career as a photo-essayist he found his stride with portrait photography which led to his greatest art in fashion photography. His sophisticated compositions and stylish characters exist in a timeless world of grand, romantic scenes with quiet allure while also reflecting his innate playfulness with whimsical and surreal visual twists.

“Taking photographs was my way of reconciling the mundane with the ideal, of reconciling my fears, and shifting from anxious loner to participant. It was with my camera that I began to find intimacy.” – Rodney Smith

Pictured & On View in Galley: Don Jumping Over Hay Roll No. 1, Monkton, Maryland, 1999, acquired by the Getty in 2021