photo-eye is pleased to announce a new portfolio of images from Aline Smithson -- In Case of Rain

Games -- Aline Smithson

In In Case of Rain, Aline Smithson captures the pass times of yesterday -- games, books, magazines and records -- objects from an era before the rise of computers and the online world. Smithson presents a nostalgic look at these beautiful things in vibrant color. The high saturation of these tones also betrays the age of these items -- color palettes of the 1960s remain bright in places, faded in others -- all of these toys and books have seen better days, no longer crisp and new. But this somehow serves to make them all the more appealing. They are well loved, played with an enjoyed by generations in need of rainy-day entertainment. I am brought back to summers at my grandparent's house, and the inevitable and exciting exploration of the toy closet in my grandparent's basement. Rummaging through the games my dad played with my aunts and uncle, I'd find a myriad of treasures to spread out on the living room carpet. They were a fascinating combination of the familiar and foreign, old, yet new to me.

But Smithson's work isn't merely a celebration of these objects. Watching her own children's tug towards the digital, she is concerned that the generations of the information age have no interest in the entertainment of her own childhood, subsequently feeling like these objects are on the brink of obsolescence.

With great sadness, I realize that these objects will someday be obsolete, at least in their current incarnations. And like a curator of antiquities, I see them now as beautiful objects to be admired and preserved, if only on film.  -- Aline Smithson

 This is the tinge of melancholy in these images. Books and games are arranged here beckoning us to read or play with them, and at least in these images we are able to admire them. The carpet is the venue for numerous games, magazines adorn couches, books with exciting titles call out from shelves -- they are the natural habitats of these objects, the places where we remember them.

Magazines and Books -- Aline Smithson

Personally, I don't think these objects will ever fall into complete disuse. There will always be something special about the tactile pleasure of a toy or book -- the shape, color and fuzzy surfaces of a small stuffed animal, the sound and smell of the turning pages of a book. The new and digital can only hold so much attention -- objecthood will forever be intriguing, especially when it looks this alluring.

This is Smithson's third portfolio to be exhibited on the Photographer's Showcase. Her series Arrangement in Green and Black, which can be seen here, is a delightful re-imagining of the famous Whistler painting Arragement in Grey and Black: The Artist's Mother featuring Smithonson's own 85 year old mother.

See Smithson's portfolios on the Photographer's Showcase here.

For more information, please contact photo-eye Gallery Associate Director Anne Kelly by email or by calling the gallery at (505) 988-5152 x202