Edwin Smith
(1912-1971), Photographer, writer and painterSitter in 2 portraits
Artist of 1 portrait
Born in Camden, the son of a carpenter, Smith attended the Northern Polytechnic to learn building crafts. Inspired by the publication in 1927 of Eugène Atget's views of Paris in Architectural Review, he was given a camera by the designer Enid Marx. The painter Paul Nash encouraged his photography and Smith began a career photographing fairgrounds, circuses, miners and dockers. His work first appeared in Modern Photography in 1936. He became the most distinguished architectural photographer of his generation. His 80,000 negatives, prints and photographic effects are now lodged with the British Architectural Library.
by Olive Muriel Cook
oil on board, circa 1954
NPG 6657
Comments back to top
We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.
If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.