Joel Meyerowitz, the pioneer of color photography and two-time Guggenheim Fellowship winner, has written about his friend Jonathan Smith for Smith’s upcoming exhibition in Jackson, Wyoming, where he will be the first photographer to be featured at Diehl Gallery in their 21-years of operation.
Stream #43, chromogenic print, 30 x 72"
Meyerowitz had invited Smith to be part of his studio. After his time there, Smith went to Iceland. Meyerowitz feels that the photographs Smith took in Iceland were “his first true photographic invention. This work sustained a deep visual and emotional vision—one that had instinctively grown in him as he stood on the ice and snow and felt the spirit and force of nature call him to an understanding that carried him away like nothing else had before. This happens just a few times in the lives of artists, and when it does, it is everything we ever hope for.”
Smith comments, “Working with Joel was a life changing experience as a young artist…He was constantly pushing me because he believed in my vision. When I left the studio I felt I was equipped with the necessary tools to truly start my own journey as an artist.”
Glacier #19, archival pigment print, 56 x 70"
As evidenced by the works on display in Waterways II, Smith’s journey has brought him to explore what he calls “the stark natural beauty and inherent impermanence of landscapes”—especially the lands of ice and snow. “The works are a response to the shifting landscape of these extreme regions. These temporal spaces change day by day, so I really felt the uniqueness of the time and space where I stood. The landscapes take me on a journey that is both literal and emotional.”
Horizon #66, chromogenic print, 38 x 74"
He exhibits his insights in large format photographs of subtly nuanced color. His triptych, Stream #43, has been printed to nearly 6 by 14 feet. Smith comments, “The experience was both humbling and exciting—I’m aware that I’m merely passing through these vast landscapes that have existed for millennia in their shifting forms. We really are all tourists on this planet passing through. For me the grand scale of the prints paired with the highest quality of detail are my way of expressing the feeling that I have when confronted with the vast raw beauty in front of me.”
Portrait of the artist on location
The U.S. Geological Survey explains succinctly, “Glacier ice is blue because the red (long wavelengths) part of white light is absorbed by ice and the blue (short wavelengths) light is transmitted and scattered. The longer the path light travels in ice, the more blue it appears.”
Smith’s photograph, Glacier #19, a symphony in blue, was shot in Patagonia, at the southern end of South America. It is another of his immersive images, drawing the viewer into an unexpected relationship with a changing world. —
Diehl Gallery 155 W. Broadway • Jackson, WY 83001 • (307) 733-0905 • www.diehlgallery.com
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