Ordinary Beauty: The Photography of Edwin Smith. Retrospective

New exhibition and retrospective of Edwin Smith - one of Britain’s foremost 20th century photographers. Accompanied by a season of talks, events & workshops inspired by his unique images.

Campo San Giogio Maggiore, Venice, 1961. Photography © Edwin Smith. Image Courtesy of RIBA Library Photographs Collection.

Hailed by Sir John Betjeman as a ‘genius at photography’ and by Cecil Beaton as ‘an understanding and loving connoisseur of his subject’, Edwin Smith studied architecture at the Architectural Association and practiced briefly before turning to photography full time in the 1930s..

The exhibition, Ordinary Beauty: The Photography of Edwin Smith will display over 100 extraordinary black and white photographs from a collection of over 60,000 negatives and 20,000 prints given by Olive Cook, Smith’s widow and collaborator, to the RIBA Library. From urban scenes documenting British social history to evocative landscape images and atmospheric interiors, the images displayed reveal the genius and breadth of his work. Alongside his images of Britain the exhibition will show photographs taken on his travels to Europe as well as his published books and photographic equipment. Specially filmed contributions ranging from Alan Bennett to broadcaster Gillian Darley offer personal perspectives of Smith’s work.

Edwin Smith was highly sought-after by publishers and in the 1950s he was commissioned by Thames & Hudson for a series of books, among them English Parish Churches (1952), English Cottages Farmhouses (1954), Scotland (1955), England (1957) and The Living City: A New View of the City of London (1957). His work also featured in Vogue, Shell Guides and numerous other publications to illustrate features and books on subjects varying from Great Houses of Europe to The Wonders of Italy.

Ordinary Beauty: The Photography of Edwin Smith curators Justine Sambrook and Valeria Carullo.

Where.- Exhibition open at the RIBA, 66 Portland Place. London. UK. Free entry.
When.- 10 September to 6 December 2014.

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Central markets, West Smithfield, City of London, 1953. Photography © Edwin Smith. Image Courtesy of RIBA Library Photographs Collection.

Kentish Town station, London 1936. Photography © Edwin Smith. Image Courtesy of RIBA Library Photographs Collection.

Lyne Church, Peebles, Scotland 1967. Photography © Edwin Smith. Image Courtesy of RIBA Library Photographs Collection.

'Ideal' fish and chip shop, London, 1958. Photography © Edwin Smith. Image Courtesy of RIBA Library Photographs Collection.

Tulip Staircase, Queen’s House, Greenwich. 1970. Photography © Edwin Smith. Image Courtesy of RIBA Library Photographs Collection.

Roofscape, Whitby, North Yorkshire, 1959. Photography © Edwin Smith. Image Courtesy of RIBA Library Photographs Collection.

Two boys on doorstep, Kilkenny, Ireland, 1965. Photography © Edwin Smith. Image Courtesy of RIBA Library Photographs Collection.

Villa Garzoni, Collodi, Tuscany 1961. Photography © Edwin Smith. Image Courtesy of RIBA Library Photographs Collection.

St Lawrence, Didmarton, Gloucestershire, 1962. Photography © Edwin Smith. Image Courtesy of RIBA Library Photographs Collection.

St Columba's Wells, Londonderry (Derry), 1965. Photography © Edwin Smith. Image Courtesy of RIBA Library Photographs Collection.

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EDWIN SMITH

Edwin Smith was born into humble circumstances in Camden Town, London, (1912-1971), and left school at the age of twelve to train as a builder. He studied architecture at the Architectural Association and practiced briefly before turning to photography full time in the 1930s. His work during this period varied from social documentary through plant and flower studies to advertising shots for Vogue, a commission he obtained on recommendation from the artist Paul Nash. In the 1950s he was commissioned by Thames & Hudson for a series of ground-breaking books, among them English Parish Churches (1952) and English Cottages & Farmhouses (1954). These were to herald a succession of further publications filled entirely with his evocative photographs, often alongside eloquent texts by his wife, the art and architectural historian Olive Cook. Covering subjects such as landscape, gardens, topography and architecture, these reached a popular audience and saw Smith demonstrate above all his ability to convey a sense of place.