In Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, Brian Smith used to see a woman arrive in the evening with leftover breadcrumbs. She knew dozens of the pigeons by name. One evening he photographed her with his Minolta X-700. Merchants, musicians and tourists filled the square, but what he saw through the viewfinder was the woman with her birds.
Learning on assignment
Brian’s father and grandfather both made photographs. His grandfather gave him a Minolta in his first year of college. Later, living in Spain, he learned from books and magazines and spent his spare time assisting a fashion photographer in Madrid. Back in the United States, work with wedding, advertising and product photographers led to freelance assignments and then an advertising agency.
When the early digital cameras arrived, he lost interest. For a while he mostly took pictures of his family. During the pandemic, looking for something creative to do, he began writing about old cameras and lenses. His blog, “The Noisy Shutter”, allowed him to pursue assignment-style photography again, of his own choosing.
Desert nights and old lenses
After three decades in the American Southwest, Brian still enjoys going out beneath the night sky. By day, a window or a door can hold his attention for its geometry or colour. Whether he loads film or puts an old lens on a digital body, he tries to get the image he wants in the camera. He would rather be out taking photographs than sitting at a screen.
Writing about equipment has brought him into conversations that went well beyond a review. Once, a reader took issue with what he had said about a lens maker. Brian was ready to defend his opinion. Then he looked at the reader’s own photographs and found things they had in common. The answer he finally wrote started a friendly exchange.
The second camera
At events like weddings, Brian would set up a Mamiya RB67 on a tripod and work through the list of requested pictures. A mentor taught him to keep another camera close and watch for meaningful candid moments to happen. The unscripted photographs made with it were often the ones that made people laugh or cry afterwards, even if the photos were not technically perfect.
His wife has been a favourite portrait subject since they met. His beagle, he adds, deserves an honourable mention. The experiments continue: infrared on film and digital, and an old 5×4 camera whose film holders he is adapting for wet and dry plates.
Brian writes about vintage cameras and lenses at The Noisy Shutter.
Based on a written interview. Interview and editing by Emiliano Vittoriosi, Berlin Photo Studio.
