PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Ming Smith is renowned for her poetic, often experimental meditations on jazz music, African American communities, and cultural icons—James Baldwin, Katherine Dunham, Grace Jones, and many more.

One of the greatest artist-photographers working today, Smith moved to New York in the 1970s and began to make images charged with starling beauty and spiritual energy. The first woman to join the Kamoinge Workshop, a collective of Black photographers, and the first African American woman to have her work acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Smith has in recent years received national and international acclaim.

Ming Smith: An Aperture Monograph brings together four decades of Smith’s work, celebrating her trademark lyricism, distinctively blurred silhouettes, dynamic street scenes, and deep devotion to theater, music, poetry, and dance—from the “Pittsburgh Cycle” plays of August Wilson to the Afrofuturism of Sun Ra. With never-before-seen images, and a range of illuminating essays and interviews from artists, curators, and writers such as Arthur Jafa, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Namwali Serpell, and Greg Tate, this tribute to Smith’s singular vision promises to be an enduring contribution to the history of American photography.

BOOK INFORMATION

Trim Size: 9 5/6 x 11 2/3 in.

Number of Pages: 236

Binding Method: Section sewn, separate ends, square back case binding

Paper: Text stock: for the coated plates 135gsm Symbol Tatami White; Uncoated pages: 120gsm Munken Pure Rough; Case: 115gsm Sirio Ultra Black

Typefaces: Lyyra Standard Light, Prismaset LL Two X

CREDIT INFORMATION

Creative Director: Sonya Dyakova

Art Director:

Book Designer: Sonya Dyakova

Jacket/Cover Designer: Atelier Dyakova, London

Illustrator:

Photographer: Ming Smith

Picture Editor: Brendan Embser

Production Director: True Sims

Production Coordinator: Andrea Chlad

Production Artist:

Other Credits: Tom Baber; Assistant Designer

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