While at my internship this morning I've been reading the blog of Rodney Smith. He is infact, probably my biggest inspiration and influence. I feel like he and I would get a long very well. I'd say he likes to listen to Paul Simon, his images remind me of Paul Simon.
"I care about the patina and craftsmanship of things, and well-made objects give me great pleasure...I can make those closest to me, my family and friends miserable, but as the book connotes, this is The End! Some side is going to finally triumph. Either its off to the New England shore, resting in peace, keeping all things under control, or for the life of me, which it may very well be, its off to taking pictures, sticking my head where it shouldn’t be, looking deeply into the very soul of life, causing angst, disrupting the quietude, fighting the “never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way. It all started with my father (and of course my mother), but you already know this. I have learned a lot, and knowledge is power, but I still can’t let me be me. I have hidden myself from myself, and as I approach The End, I am truly finding that if I can somehow or somewhere find the strength, it will just be the beginning. Cleanliness is next to godliness, and despite everything, I must admit- my parents were right. All things do have their right place.
If you look at my photographs, this sense of compulsion, which has turned into a sense of composition, was nurtured and driven into me from a young boy. Despite throwing it up and out, I have learned to use it in my favor. I have learned to place things in their right place, to find order in chaos, to distill an essence from a catastrophe, and to learn my own rhythm. It all looks so easy, but believe me, it took many years of torture and anguish to learn to rule from the center.I see what I am seeking often, in the gentleness of a touch, the grace in a woman’s stance, or even in laughter. I see it in the way people hold a cup, or gaze at their partner, or in the landscape, and some architecture, some furniture, and often in older art. I rarely find it in modern popular culture.
My photographs are part of the journey to The End of that road. They are my attempt to help with the quest, to point the way for me, and for others, that out there we are not abandoned and forsaken. In life, we can find what we are looking for, both in the manmade and the naturally occurring. We can find the peace we seek, if only for a short time, and finally let it go."-Rodney Smith
