Venice and the artists’ circumstances continue to evolve, and some of their situations have since changed, with a few having found new studios in Venice and others having moved away.
I make almost all of my photographs close to home, with the exception of a few series. I shoot against my garage and throughout my house. I have a pink office where I surround myself with inspiration. But most of my creativity comes from inside my head, not in a room, pulled from a deep well of influences.
The series with my mother, Arrangement in Green and Black, has been my favorite work as a photographer. It launched my career and continues to be exhibited and published around the world for well over a decade. She would be amazed where her photographs have been featured: Russia, China, Korea, France, Spain, Poland, Germany and all over the US.
Created over an almost 20-year span and drawing from 18 bodies of work, this is the first published monograph of Aline Smithson’s work and features her defining series Arrangement in Green and Black: Portrait of the Photographer’s Mother. From black-and-white to hand-painted photographs, this collection of portraits combines humor and family to create a universal expression of motherhood, to capture the essence of childhood, and to examine created realities, the poignancy of childhood, and the pathos of aging and relationships.
In my ideal scenario, I would be relaxing in a villa near a coast in Italy. I would have a chef to make amazing pasta and I would nap and read and swim and photograph. In reality, when I’m tired, I lie on the couch, catch up on a myriad of shows, many admittedly on Bravo, while surfing Ebay for some treasure. Oddly, surfing Ebay makes me relax. A vodka tonic is close at hand, and the ubiquitous guacamole.
Dalo has some tried and true philosophies that she brings to her clients and it is sound advice. Weddings can be expensive so Dalo suggests that you spend your money with people you like. “When you write a check to a vendor you should feel good about what you’ve spent, not feel drained.
