Artist Biography

After a career as a New York Fashion Editor and working along side the greats of fashion photography, Aline Smithson discovered the family Rolleiflex and never looked back. Now represented by galleries across the country and published throughout the world, Aline continues to create her award-winning photography with humor, compassion, and a 50-year-old camera. Her work has been featured in numerous publications including the PDN Photo Annual, Communication Arts Photo Annual, Eyemazing, Artworks, Shots, Pozytyw, and Silvershotz magazines. She has exhibited widely including solo shows at the Griffin Museum of Photography, the Oswald Gallery, and Wallspace Gallery in Seattle. Aline has been the Gallery Editor for Light Leaks Magazine, writes and edits the blog, Lenscratch, and has been curating exhibitions for a number of galleries and on-line magazines. She was nominated for The Excellence in Photographic Teaching Award in 2008 and 2009 and for the Santa Fe Prize in Photography in 2009 by the Santa Fe Center of Photography. She is a 2009 juror for Critical Mass, and will be a reviewer at Review LA in 2010.

Smithson’s recent series is being featured for our exhibit “About Face”.
Her previous exhibition at The Loft at Liz’s from “Diversity in Development” can be viewed here.

Artist Statement
Arrangement in Green and Black: Portrait of the Photographer’s Mother Series

This series had serendipitous beginnings.  I found a small print of Whistler’s “Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter’s Mother” at a neighborhood garage sale.  That same weekend I found a leopard coat and hat, a 195os cat painting and what looked like the exact chair from Whistler’s painting.  That started my thinking about the idea of portraiture, the strong compositional relationships going on within the painting and the evocative nature of unassuming details.

This series incorporates traditional photographic techniques yet becomes richer through 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 composition.  My patient 85 year old mother posed in over 20 ensembles, but unfortunately passed away prior to seeing the finished series.  I am grateful for her sense of humor and for the time this series allowed us to be together.