When I think of the work of Dan Tobin Smith - I think about ephemeral beauty - fleeting moments of delicate observation where an array of elements come beautifully together for a moment. While all photography is about light, his Colour series, for example, quite literally consists of images created of projected light. The profiles above are made from carefully arranging cut paper - something which astonishes me when I think of the skill involved in creating such a delicate element to photograph.
The series that Dan Tobin Smith is particularly known for is a personal project called "Alphabetical". Each letter is set up using anamorphosis - the letters are often sculptures that can only be viewed from the camera's perspective. Dan Tobin Smith says, "Anamorphosis is a technique which dates back to the renaissance and found one of its first uses in photography with an image called 'the human US shield' made in 1913, which shows a staggering 30,000 officers and men of camp cluster forming an enormous US shield. Each letter has a different approach but uses helvetica as the base typography. Most are temporary installations, some use landscape and some were conceived as primarily moving image - such as Letter T."
I hope you enjoy viewing not only the lovely final images, but the craftsmanship, and creative thinking that went into each piece.
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