Name of Artist: Jeffery Smith
Dates of Artist’s Life: 27?
1. Personal Background:
I contacted Jeffery via email and asked him questions that would help me with my report. Smith grew up in Ann Arbor and went to Pioneer high school. He says he always had an interest in photography from a young age, but started to take it more seriously when he took his first photography class in high school. He learned a lot of technical skills, being that in that class he worked with black and white film. He first thought of taking his photography career professionally when more people started joining a bicicyle club that he took pictures for. Smith went to Central Michigan University, where he majored in photojournalism. He worked for the student newspaper as a student journalist and photo editor, and after he graduated, worked at newspapers around Michigan. A little over a year ago, he moved back to Ann Arbor and pursued a career as a photographer and video editor at the University of Michigan.
2. Style:
Smith describes his style as photojournalistic or documentary. His goal is to always protray the subject in an honest way, and have whoever is viewing the photograph to feel a personal connection to it. With the documentary work, he tries to use intimate moments to establish a personal connection with the viewer. He wants to tell a story through his work.
3. Philosophy:
Smith wants the people who view his work to see that we are all human and are more similar than we think, regardless of race, gender, socioeconomic status, level of education, politics, etc. As far as what his photography “says” depends on the subject and story. He just tries to capture it honestly. I asked him to talk about the photos I was thinking of recreating and this is what he said about them. He said there wasn’t a lot of backstory in the photos I chose. One is a senior photo, one is a photo of a friend of his, and one is a photo of a theater student at UM. With portrait photos like those, he tries his best to capture the personality of the subject as best as he can. He does this by chatting with the subject for a while and getting to know them better. He also shares details about himself. He says, “If someone isn’t comfortable with you, you probably won’t get a good portrait.”
Influences:
His work has influenced me in many different ways. He does a lot of portraits both regular and for sports. He comes up with interesting poses and different creative locations. He also plays with different lighting to emphasize certain things. There are many things in the background of his photos that you have to point out to see, and I think that is interesting. I definitely have learned many things from looking through his photos and will apply them to my photography.
5. Sources:
1. www.jeffreysmithphoto.com
2.http://www.jeffreysmithphoto.com/2014-portfolio
6. Compare and Contrast:
Ice Cream: This recreation I think turned out the best. The wall we chose wasn’t exactly the same as the photo, and the ice cream wasn’t as big as his, but I think we did a pretty good job.
First portrait: This photo turned out pretty good too. The original photo had the subject close to the camera, but I think the background was pretty similar in this photo.
Second Portrait: This photo was the hardest to make. We couldn't seem to find the same background the original photo had in the location tha we were in, so we settled for a park which had some greenery.
All of the pictures I chose to recreate were taken in the Summer/Fall time and when we took ours it had just snowed and was fairly cold outside. That’s why my subject has a winter coat on and a sweater and the subjects of the other photos have on tanktops and shirts. That is also why the backgrounds look different. The camera quality in the original photos is much better than mine, considering I didn't use a very high quality camera. So the background isn't naturally blurred.
7. Personal Artist Statement:
I think my photos are well done. I had a slightly hard time getting the subject to be the exact same as the original photos, but I think I captured the general idea. I think the framing of the photos is pretty good and the angles are pretty spot on. The subjects have very obvious differences but through the photos, they look similar.
Dates of Artist’s Life: 27?
1. Personal Background:
I contacted Jeffery via email and asked him questions that would help me with my report. Smith grew up in Ann Arbor and went to Pioneer high school. He says he always had an interest in photography from a young age, but started to take it more seriously when he took his first photography class in high school. He learned a lot of technical skills, being that in that class he worked with black and white film. He first thought of taking his photography career professionally when more people started joining a bicicyle club that he took pictures for. Smith went to Central Michigan University, where he majored in photojournalism. He worked for the student newspaper as a student journalist and photo editor, and after he graduated, worked at newspapers around Michigan. A little over a year ago, he moved back to Ann Arbor and pursued a career as a photographer and video editor at the University of Michigan.
2. Style:
Smith describes his style as photojournalistic or documentary. His goal is to always protray the subject in an honest way, and have whoever is viewing the photograph to feel a personal connection to it. With the documentary work, he tries to use intimate moments to establish a personal connection with the viewer. He wants to tell a story through his work.
3. Philosophy:
Smith wants the people who view his work to see that we are all human and are more similar than we think, regardless of race, gender, socioeconomic status, level of education, politics, etc. As far as what his photography “says” depends on the subject and story. He just tries to capture it honestly. I asked him to talk about the photos I was thinking of recreating and this is what he said about them. He said there wasn’t a lot of backstory in the photos I chose. One is a senior photo, one is a photo of a friend of his, and one is a photo of a theater student at UM. With portrait photos like those, he tries his best to capture the personality of the subject as best as he can. He does this by chatting with the subject for a while and getting to know them better. He also shares details about himself. He says, “If someone isn’t comfortable with you, you probably won’t get a good portrait.”
Influences:
His work has influenced me in many different ways. He does a lot of portraits both regular and for sports. He comes up with interesting poses and different creative locations. He also plays with different lighting to emphasize certain things. There are many things in the background of his photos that you have to point out to see, and I think that is interesting. I definitely have learned many things from looking through his photos and will apply them to my photography.
5. Sources:
1. www.jeffreysmithphoto.com
2.http://www.jeffreysmithphoto.com/2014-portfolio
6. Compare and Contrast:
Ice Cream: This recreation I think turned out the best. The wall we chose wasn’t exactly the same as the photo, and the ice cream wasn’t as big as his, but I think we did a pretty good job.
First portrait: This photo turned out pretty good too. The original photo had the subject close to the camera, but I think the background was pretty similar in this photo.
Second Portrait: This photo was the hardest to make. We couldn't seem to find the same background the original photo had in the location tha we were in, so we settled for a park which had some greenery.
All of the pictures I chose to recreate were taken in the Summer/Fall time and when we took ours it had just snowed and was fairly cold outside. That’s why my subject has a winter coat on and a sweater and the subjects of the other photos have on tanktops and shirts. That is also why the backgrounds look different. The camera quality in the original photos is much better than mine, considering I didn't use a very high quality camera. So the background isn't naturally blurred.
7. Personal Artist Statement:
I think my photos are well done. I had a slightly hard time getting the subject to be the exact same as the original photos, but I think I captured the general idea. I think the framing of the photos is pretty good and the angles are pretty spot on. The subjects have very obvious differences but through the photos, they look similar.