Arthur Smith: “Arthur Smith Exposed”

The following is an extract from a review of the Arthur Smith lecture to Durham Photographic Society 29^th November by John Cogan. The full article will be published on the new Durham PS website in January 2013

“Arthur's images and his choices are eclectic. Nothing seems to be beyond him nor the subtle way he works. I admire a man who has never used a Layer in PhotoShop. I no longer feel quite alone. The difference being that I am sure it won't be long before Arthur masters that particular facility and then what an explosion of work. Over the length of the evening you come to feel that this is the autobiography of experimentation. Arthur, for all his avuncular appearance, is the epitome of the absent minded professor who just happens to know exactly what he's doing and develops the magic potion. Every print becomes the next step as he expands his fund of knowledge further and further, wider and deeper. His use of the enlarger and old printing methods, combined with scanning and a multiplicity of other skills probes the possibilities and sets a trail that others will, As a tribal kin of Captain Kirk Arthur will boldly go where no man has gone before but whether Betty will be with him as his Uhuru is another question.”

Editor’s note: Betty, otherwise known as Manic Betty, is a rather beautiful mannequin famously carried around in Arthur’s car and appearing, to huge acclaim, in many of Arthur’s photographs.