Social Utopia = LRTX

LRTX 2011  Dallas, Texas © Allison V. Smith

LRTX 2011  Dallas, Texas © Allison V. Smith

LRTX 2011  Dallas, Texas © Allison V. Smith

Congratulations to La Reunion TX for receiving the Dallas Observer's Mastermind award! Read about the award here and please check out La Reunion TX awesome new site here. Be a part of the the social utopia, support LRTX here.

BLISS @ BWG

I am very excited to be a part of BLISS, the upcoming group show at the Barry Whistler Gallery.

The show opens this Saturday 12/3 from 6-8. I will have 2 NEW small photographs from Maine in the show. Also, Lawrence Lee's new drawings of "Boksers" are pretty spectacular. I hope you can make it out!

Happy Thanksgiving

home. june 2011. dallas, texas © Allison V. Smith

I am thankful for my furry family, friends and family.

I am thankful for art and love.
I am thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Lawrence Lee at BWG

detail of Lawrence Lee drawing. November 2011. Dallas, Texas © Allison V. Smith

Opening December 3 at the Barry Whistler Gallery is new work by Lawrence Lee. I saw a few of the new pieces when Barry asked me to shoot an image for the new card. See above detail from Lee's series of boxers and boxing posters. These drawings remind me a little of Matisse and little of these photographs of Congolese Wrestling on Time Magazine's Lightbox today.

assignment work

The Texas Tribune. November 20, 2011 © Allison V. Smith

Michael Sorrell. November 2011. Dallas, Texas © Allison V. Smith

Favorite clip from the weekend. On 11-11-11, I photographed Paul Quinn College President Michael Sorrell and the impressive 2 acre former football field now farm for The Texas Tribune. 

Read Reeve Hamilton's story here.

the power of a photograph

Dallas Morning News. March 1978

Inspired by my recent photo find, I started digging through folders of family photographs. This one is dated March 1978 was shot by an unknown Dallas Morning News photographer. My grandfather touches my shoulder as I hold it together the best an 8-year-old can do as we leave my grandmother's funeral. It was front page news. This photograph makes me so sad. It's an outright reminder to me of the power of a photograph and the importance of a singular moment.

"the boy photographer"

Dallas. 1930s. © Stanley Marcus

Earlier this week I was contacted by Dallas architect David Benners who found a photograph in his grandmother's archives that he thought I would be interested in seeing. Benners emailed the above photograph of his grandmother (in the center) with friends. On the back it is signed:

"A Merry Xmas. From H. Stanley Marcus (the boy photographer)." 

I love the action and connection the stylish women are having with the "boy photographer." I  only wish there were more to see.  The book of my grandfather's photographs that my mom and I published in 2008, Reflection of a Man, is all rich, colorful kodachrome shot from 1936-1968. I have a few B&W photographs of his from the Taos Pueblo shot in the 30s, but nothing like this. I am in love with this new found photograph.Thanks for sharing, David Benners.

In Print: Stephen King

11-15-11 USA TODAY

Stephen King. 6th Floor Museum. November 2011 Dallas, Texas © Allison V. Smith

Last Thursday at 9 a.m.,  I spent 10 minutes photographing author Stephen King for today's USA Today. I photographed him near the window Oswald perched in 48 years ago when he shot the fatal shots. King was cool, unexpectedly funny and only sort of scary.. just kidding, he wasn't scary at all. He even admitted to feeling creeped out by being on the 6th floor. Read Carol Memmott's  interview with King here. Buy his new book here.

MAINE @vodboutique

VOD turns 4

Happy Birthday V.O.D. I'm excited to be a part of the celebration on Saturday, November 19. Fashion, champagne + a selection from my Maine series will be on display. Come celebrate 4!

Dallas City Council photo shoot

Dallas City Council ad. November 2011. Dallas, Texas © Allison V. Smith


This ad appeared in today's Dallas Morning News. I shot this portrait of the Dallas City Council last month outside Dallas City Hall. The friendly folks at Design Within Reach loaned us the swan chair and couch and the Frank Gehry left twist cubes for our ten minute photo shoot. Success!

assignment work

Mockingbird Station Ad. September 2011. Dallas, Texas © Allison V. Smith

Recognize me? Above is one of the edits from a casual, cool shoot I did in September for the Mockingbird Station, see more here. Garage banners and mini billboards are beginning to pop up. Shooting installation shots is on my to do list! I'll post them here when I do.

Inside the Heat Lab for The Texas Tribune

 heat lab. October 2011. Dallas, Texas © Allison V. Smith

 heat lab. October 2011. Dallas, Texas © Allison V. Smith

Above some outtakes from my first assignment from The Texas Tribune, see my 2nd in this Sunday's TT. See the story here. Just looking at the photos gives me the sensation that the patient describes as "a ton of bricks on my chest."

The collect.give Book

 The collect.give Book © Kevin Miyazaki 2011

 The collect.give Book © Kevin Miyazaki 2011

The charity-based online photography gallery collect.give announces the release of a book celebrating the project’s first 50 photographers – all of whom have pledged to donate 100% of their print proceeds to charities they’ve selected. Since 2009, collect.give has raised over $28,000 for a wide variety of charitable organizations, by selling affordable, limited edition photographs.

Description

128 pages, softcover, perfect bound, printed by MagCloud.

Design By

Heidi Romano

Photographs By

Jane Fulton Alt, Malu Alvarez, Jonathan Blaustein, Mark Brautigam, Jesse Burke, Barbara Ciurej & Lindsay Lochman, Katrina d’Autremont, Amy Eckert, Matt Eich, Jon Feinstein, Sarina Finkelstein, Elizabeth Fleming, Max. S. Gerber, Meggan Gould, Andrew Hetherington, Geoffrey Hiller, Peter Hoffman, Jon Horvath, Ben Huff, Dave Jordano, Stella Kalaw, Melissa Kaseman, Liz Kuball, Shane Lavalette, David Leventi, John Loomis, S. Billie Mandle, Kerry Mansfield, Mark Menjivar, Kevin J. Miyazaki, Annie Marie Musselman, Colleen Plumb, Susana Raab, Shawn Records, Ellen Rennard, Dalton Rooney, Jonathan Saunders, Manjari Sharma, Daniel Shea, Kelly Shimoda, Emily Shur, Allison V. Smith, Aline Smithson, Brea Souders, Sarah Sudhoff, Jake Stangel, Lacey Terrell, Sonja Thomsen, Susan Worsham and David Wright.

Essays By

Crista Dix, Darius Himes, Lisa Hostetler, Rachel Hulin, Miki Johnson, Larissa Leclair, Wally Mason, George Slade, Amy Stein and Alison Zavos.

To Benefit

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). In keeping with the collect.give mission to donate 100% of proceeds to charity, all profits from this book will be donated to the RSPCA, a charity chosen by the designer Heidi Romano.

Price

$22.00

To Preview or Purchase

http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/290686

Contact

For more information, visit www.collectdotgive.org or send an email to Kevin J. Miyazaki.

Halloween 2011

 Cowgirl. October 2011. Dallas, Texas © Allison V. Smith

Captain America. October 2011. Dallas, Texas © Allison V. Smith

Just picked up some film from Halloween 2011. 

I'm adding as I blog some new photos to my Halloween archive on photoshelter. Check it out here.