Category: Personal

Rick Smith, Still Hanging in There

Personal, Photography
(Image courtesy of and © Richard Smith)
Last night I had the pleasure of attending a special 40 year retrospective of the photographic work of long-time Greensboro photographer Rick Smith. Randolph Community College’s photography department honored Rick by hanging a show of his personal work going back some forty years. Rick was in attendance and gave a short talk on design, photography and how he has combined the two over the years to produce his extraordinary imagery. There was a large crowd there, including many former clients, associates and friends. The president of RCC presented Rick with a plaque in honor of the time and energy he has volunteered to the photography program at the school.
All in all it was a very special and moving evening. Rick was the first person to hire me as a commercial photography assistant. I worked as his apprentice. A large part of my photographic knowledge, in lighting as well as design, is directly because of his tutelage. Over the past 35 years, he has been a boss, a teacher, an associate, a competitor, the best still-life shooter I have ever known, a mentor, but most of all a friend. God bless you Rick.

(Black and white photographs copyright 2012 by Dan Routh)

For all those interested, Rick’s images will be on display in the RCC photo department in Asheboro, North Carolina until February 28, 2012. The public is invited to stop by and view them.

Firefighters and the Flood

Business, Personal, Portraits

Some days are better than others and of course, some are more trying. Today was one of those trying ones, for sure. Late this morning while I was beginning to edit a job, the fire alarm in our building went off, which is never a good sign. After checking things out, I found out a cable worker had knocked a sprinkler head off in the hallway above my studio, directly above. A deluge of water soon began to pour through my ceiling and I started the rush to move my computer and camera equipment before it was ruined. With the help of my wonderful building neighbors, I was able to move everything that could be horribly damaged (I hope) including my film archive. Still, a lot of water came in and a lot of damage was done. A flood. Bright sunny day, my studio is on the second floor, fifteen feet above the ground, and I have a flood.

However, even in adversity comes opportunity, I guess. I’ve been thinking of doing portraits of firefighters, and have been thinking about who to approach. This morning, they approached me. The firemen of the Greensboro Fire Department showed up at my door and I grabbed a couple of images of them as I was documenting the damage to my studio.

(Photographs copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)