The work of the photographer, Edwin Smith, of whom Sir John Betjeman described, as “a genius at photography” will be exhibited at Moray Art Centre this summer. The exhibition, entitled A Human Architecture, which will be open to the public from Saturday 14 May to Saturday 2 July, will highlight 15 of Smith’s 60,000 negatives, regarded by many as the unofficial visual study of the British Isles and traditional landscape and architecture.

The monochrome prints from original negatives have been kindly been produced by The Royal Institute of British Architects, (RIBA), which is the home of the world’s most extensive visual archive devoted to architecture. The exhibition celebrates the beauty and simplicity of the everyday, images of working buildings that have evolved within their environment and through their daily use, avoiding decoration or elaborate detailing. The images of landscapes, buildings and interiors are full of integrity, demonstrating their beauty by being true to themselves. As traditional buildings, their design follows the rule of ‘function over form’. The viewer may feel a sense of nostalgia for a simple and functional design methodology that is much less evident today than when Smith was busy with his camera.

The photographic prints are produced from archive negatives, resulting in superior quality prints that are full of charm and character. These prints will be available to buy as Moray Art Centre’s Exhibition Manager, Scott Byrne said “The Edwin Smith exhibition, which is a first for Scotland, follows a sell out show in London where photography is increasingly recognised as a sound investment”.

Although Smith eventually became an internationally acclaimed photographer, he always wanted to be recognised as an artist. In the words of his widow, “[Smith] thought of himself primarily as a painter” and he also thought his photography would finance a career as a painter. In this respect the exhibition will also show a number of Smith’s original paintings, borrowed from The Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden.

Edwin Smith was born in 1912, in poor circumstances in Islington, London and from an early age had an interest in architecture. From studying the subject at Northern Polytechnic in Holloway he transferred to the architecture school at the age of 16. He even won a scholarship to the Architectural Association but for financial reasons gave up his course and worked as an architectural draughtsman for several years. Smith had always painted but it was in the 1930’s that Smith became inspired by the French photographer Eugine Atget and decided to become a freelance photographer with the help from artists Paul Nash and Enid Marx. He photographed realistic everyday scenes of shop windows and people working and had early successes in fashion photography and advertising.

After the war he bought an old fashioned, half-plate bellows camera, which was enormously heavy as it was made of mahogany and brass. The results from this camera, due to the long exposures and natural light, produced subtle and beautiful images, with a sense of stillness and silence. With his trained architectural eye for detail and his empathy for the preservation of the countryside and build heritage, he established a reputation as one of Britain’s foremost topographical photographers.

With his second wife Oilve Cook (1912-2002), who had been the supervisor of publications at the National Gallery, they produced a number of well-regarded books which were published in the UK, USA and Europe. Titles included,” Scotland and the Romantic Eye, English Cottages and Farmhouses and English Parish Churches”. After Smith’s death in 1971 to cancer at the age of 51, Cook carried on exhibiting his work and energetically sought to fulfil his desire to be recognised as an artist. Randy Klinger, Director Moray Art Centre said, “I wanted to show the charm and poetry of Smith’s work. He was able to create supremely beautiful images from the most simple of scenes and buildings. It is thanks to the support of Moray Estates, RIBA and The Fry Gallery we have been able to being this new exhibition to the region. “

The exhibition runs from Saturday 14 May to Saturday 2 July, with free admission. All prints are available to buy at the Centre or online.

Further details about the exhibition and the programme, can be found on www.morayartcentre.org   or email: info@morayartcentre.org 

Source: Moray Art Centre