The elegant photography of Rodney Smith
A man who loved beautiful things Rodney Smith: A Leap of Faith, by Paul Martineau (Getty Publications, 248 pp; $65) by Bondo Wyszpolski This is as much a luxury item as it is a volume of elegant, bewitching photographs, and it complements similarly-related books that Getty curator of photographs Paul Martineau has written for the institution’s publishing arm, in particular “Icons of Style: A Century of Fashion Photography” and “Herb Ritts: L.A. Style,” the latter also being catalogs in tandem with major exhibitions. “Wessel Looking Over the Balcony, Paris, France” (2007); © 2023 Rodney Smith Ltd., courtesy of the Estate of Rodney SmithThese days, Rodney Smith (1947-2016) may be most recognizable thanks to his photograph, “Wessel Looking over the Balcony, Paris, France” (2007), which was reproduced as the cover for “A Gentleman in Moscow,” the best-selling novel by Amor Towles. That image alone conveys plenty about Smith’s aesthetic. As Rebecca A. Senf notes in one of the book’s essays, “For Smith, the print was everything. He was a man who loved beautiful things.” Smith may be described or summarized as an American fashion photographer, but he was also one with an occasional…
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