A NOTABLE ONE-MAN-SHOW
Dr. JULIAN SMITH FRPS
PERTH EXHIBITION
June - July 1946 Page 278 - The Australasian Photo-Review
An exhibition of 95 prints by Dr. Julian Smith FRPS, opened at the Kodak Galleries in Hay Street, Perth, on 21st May 1946. As was to be anticipated, the exhibition attracted considerable public attention, with special emphasis on professional and advanced amateur workers.
The official opening was by Dr. H.S. Lucraft, whose address included the following points:
It is a privilege and a pleasure to open this exhibition of camera studies by Dr. Julian Smith. Those of us who are interested in pictorial photography and I presume that includes most of us present this afternoon, need no introduction to Dr. Julian Smith.
It is unfortunate for us in Western Australia that owing to the isolation of our State we have very few opportunities of seeing the work of the world’s best workers; but for once we are being given an opportunity to do that. We have displayed for us, here in Perth, almost a hundred prints by one of the most famous photographers of the century. This is a one man show which would attract attention even in London or New York, where exhibitions of the world’s best photography are, I will not say daily events, but at least quite common events.
It is quite possible, and even probable, that some young boy or girl will stand before these prints, and will be inspired by what he sees to a determination to do work as good as, or even better than, that shown here to-day. It will not be done easily. It will demand unusual artistic ability, boundless enthusiasm and tireless energy. But if it does happen that some young genius arises to follow in Dr. Julian Smith’s footsteps he will by his work give untold pleasure to other people, and in doing so will reap a rich harvest of joy himself.
There has been in the past, and for all I know there may still be, controversy as to whether photography can be included among the arts, or whether it must be relegated to the outer darkness as being merely a science. It has been said that a camera is a machine, a mechanical toy for the production of pictures, and that under no circumstances can the results it produces be described as works of art. I think myself it all depends on the man behind the camera. If he happens to be an artist, there is no reason that I know of why he should not produce with the aid of his camera something that has just as much claim to the title of a work of art as the products of the painter with his brushes and paint or of the sculptor with his hammer and chisel.
It is unfortunately true that not every picture produced by a camera is a work of art. Art has been described as Nature presented through the personality of the artist, and that certainly is something that cannot be achieved by merely pressing a button, even if Kodak’s themselves do the rest. Still, when you look at the pictures on show this afternoon, I think you will agree that really artistic work can be done by the right man, with the camera as his accomplice, or tool, or medium, call it what you like.
I always think that Dr. Julian Smith has a touch of the same genius with which Charles Dickens was blessed. Dickens had the happy gift of painting for us, in words, and with a few deft touches, the familiar types of men and women among whom he lived and worked; and he showed them to us in such a way that their personality, their very essence, was immortalized for all time. Which of us does not know and rejoice in Mr. Pickwick and Sam Weller, Sara Gamp and Betsy Prigg; Mr. and Mrs. Micawber, Mr. Pecksniff, and scores of other characters that will live as long as the British language endures. Many of Dickens characters, had we met them in real life, would probably have aroused in us feelings of disgust and revulsion; but owing to his genius, Dickens presents these people in such a way what we cannot have enough of their company in the printed word. We see them through the personality of Dickens, who had a great love for his fellow man.
Dickens made use of words as his medium for expressing himself. Julian Smith does much the same kind of work, but he uses a camera as his medium, and with the aid of that little black box he shows us types of men and women that we would be only too happy to have as permanent guests in our homes. Somehow or other, that mechanical toy, the camera, has succeeded in incorporating in its products some of the personality or the spirit of Julian Smith, perhaps it is not, in the right hands, such a mere mechanical toy after all.
You will notice that all the pictures shown in this exhibition are portraits. There are two reasons for that. The first is that this is an age of specialism. If a man wishes to distinguish himself in any field of human endeavor, he is more or less compelled to specialize on one department of his subject. Knowledge has grown to such an extent that no one man can nowadays hope to achieve complete mastery of more than one corner of the vast field open to exploration. The second reason is that Julian Smith is a doctor, and, as a result, his main interest in life is his fellow man. What more natural, or inevitable, therefore, than that even in his hobby he should concentrate on portraying his fellow man and woman in such a way as to show not merely their external characteristics, but, just as Dickens did, something of the personality and spirit of the individual as well. You will find on the walls here quite a number of characters already described by Dickens, Mr. Micawber and Uriah Heep, for instance. I am certain you will all find something to appeal to you in every print that is shown. We must remember also that these 95 prints are a mere fraction of the work that Julian Smith has produced during his very busy life. A few of the prints were made specially for this exhibition; but these were made at a time when material was still extremely hard to get, and at the end of a long period when Dr. Julian Smith, no longer a young man, had been working hard and continuously on work connected with the war. He has had very little time or opportunity during the war to indulge in his hobby. We cannot claim, therefore, that these prints represent all the best of his work. Nevertheless, as I have already said, this is an exhibition which would attract attention anywhere in the world, and Western Australia is exceedingly fortunate in the opportunity, provided for us by Kodak Ltd., of seeing it.
Dr. Lucraft declares the exhibition open.
MR. MICAWBER
URIAH HEEP