Reinterpretation

view gallery: Reinterpretation

She was my first love. I found her on the pages of “Life Magazine” and hanging from the walls of the Detroit Institute of Arts. She was small, rich in the colors of black and white. She was the representation of an artist’s reaction to life. She was the etchings of Rembrandt and Brueghel and the photographs of Weston and Smith. Her images were honest, brutal and beautiful. She inspired my first black and white photographs. It was love at first sight. It became my method of interpretation of life as I felt it.

Musicians often reinterpret their work. Visual artists tend to create with the sprit of one and done. While visual artists might work on a theme or style for a series we seldom go back to the single original and rework it.

Recently I have had occasion to revisit some recent photographs. A client had asked me to convert a couple images into black and white. I did not simply do an image>mode>grayscale in Photoshop but I went back to the original raw file and completely reworked it. It was like bumping into my first love all over again. Seeing these images anew in Black and White rekindled a passion that had been left behind.

Sincerely,

Zave Smith

www.zavesmith.com

The Cure

I have been at this for a while. There have been good years and there have been years where sleep came hard for worry.

I started my career in 1982, a year with a similar economic climate to this one with high unemployment and no optimism in the air. Like many of you here I am receiving a fair amount of resumes and young photographers asking for advice these days.

I was never one who buys the idea that it was “better back then” a career in the creative arts has always been a difficult choice. We who dedicate our lives to constant reinvention soon discover that we cannot always pull the next big thing out of our camera shaped hats. Our markets are not forgiving. Our markets always want the next big thing.

So what do you say to the next bright eyed recent photo grad with a huge heart, deep passions and a small camera? How do you find the right tone between follow your heart and watch your wallet? We all want it all; sex, money, power, sprite and the idea that you are saving the world. How do you let them know that while few have it all, with hard work many of us get to drink a bit from the cup of joy even during times where the oxygen seems to be leaving the room.

To those of you who are starting your careers, have faith, work hard and keep on creating images that are close to your heart.

Sincerely,

Zave Smith
www.zavesmith.com