About: Alix Smith
Alix Smith was born in New York in 1978. growing up she went to sacred heart and dwight school. In 2005 she graduated from The School of Visual Arts with a masters in Photography and related media. She has been awarded a Stonewall honor in 2009 for her States of Union project. In 2009 she also received a sponsorship from The New York Foundation for the Arts. Moreover, Art Review Magazine called her one of the best emerging photographers internationally.Not only are Alix Smith's photos well known throughout the US but also throughout Europe.
Identification
This picture is an installation in her "Through Imitation" project. The entire project depicts people in drag in elegant poses. Each picture tells a story of their lives and shows their over the top and explosive personalities. Exampled in this picture, the backgrounds are very busy and have a wide range of colors. It seems that Alix Smith captured movement within the picture, as well as used the rule of thirds.
Part of her projected titled, "States of Union" this picture shows a happy couple with their adopted baby. This project depicts happy LGBT families with their spouses and/or children. Once again the people are posed in positions that are very telling. They tell the story of happy, loving, and proud couples. Once again the backgrounds in most of the pictures are busy and very constructed.
Movement is display through the lady holding up the baby. I would also say that Alix used the pop of color from the jacket. In these photos the person's pose and setting gives us an idea of the kind of person they are. Given this, the project is properly titled "constructed identities." All of the people are seated in a formal way, wearing business attire, except the person I chose. Within this picture I see the principles of framing and rule of thirds.
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Reflection
By looking through Alix Smith's projects, I have found a few common themes that run through her pictures. One of these is that she really only photographs people, not only that was the people that are considered "different" or "outcasts" in society's eyes. She uses poses and the background to tell the story of who they are. In the sense of the principles she uses to take her photos, framing, color, and movement are all common principles you see displayed in them. When looking at her work it seems very prepared or structured as well as elegant. By researching Alix Smith and looking through her work, I'm inspired to really try to use my backgrounds to help build a story. In my recreation of her work I photographed my mother. I a more structured background in order to imitate Alix Smith's way of making the picture seem more formal and elegant.