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Jackson Hole News & Guide

Written By Richard Anderson

Taking a photograph with a digital camera or even an old 33mm SLR takes just a split second: Push the button and “click.” Done.

But English-born shooter Jonathan Smith uses a large-format camera, which demands a painstaking, laborious, exacting process.

“On the flip side,” he said, “it’s almost very simple in a way. You have very few elements — it’s a lens and bellows and a plate in back. … You don’t have bells and whistles, timers, all these different readings.

“I like to think of it as more of a meditation,” he continued. Once you understand how it works, “it allows you to slow down. … It takes you into a different state.”

Starting Saturday, Diehl Gallery offers a glimpse into Smith’s view of the world. Gallery owner Mariam Diehl invites all to the opening reception 4-7 p.m. with champagne, chocolate and the exhibition “The Shape of Light.”

Smith, 47, graduated from the University of Creative Arts in Canterbury where he studied photography, painting, sculpture and other mediums. In the end, he found himself drawn to photography. He landed an internship with British fine art photographer Susan Derges, who urged him to move to New York City.

“I was doing documentary photography,” he said, “thinking that was the way I was going to proceed, shooting 35-millimeter black and white.”

But a chance encounter with American color photo pioneer Joel Meyerowitz changed his course. Working as his assistant for eight years, Smith learned how to run an art studio and also switched gears to a 4-by-3-inch camera to shoot color.

Starting in 2013, Smith began traveling to shoot, first in Iceland, which he said opened his eyes to the “raw presence of nature,” and later to Patagonia, Italy and elsewhere.

Diehl has on hand 10 images, mostly compositions of ice and snow, rock and water from Patagonia and Iceland. Smith first came to her attention in 2020 when he was looking for representation here.

“When he emailed images of his glacier and stream pieces, I initially assumed he was a painter,” Diehl said. “The work was incredibly painterly, and it honestly didn’t occur to me that it was photography.”

A feathery plume of water falling past black volcanic rock or a horizon dividing a scintillating body of water from an opalescent sky bring to mind abstract expressionists like Robert Motherwell or Mark Rothko.

“At the time, I was fairly committed to not exhibiting photography,” Diehl said, “but Smith’s work stopped me in my tracks. … We began representing him shortly thereafter.”

Abstract but firmly rooted in nature, Smith’s images command attention. His diptychs and triptychs add a layer of tension, with the gaps between the panels suggesting ellipses.

Many of his varied collections can be seen on his website, but for the full, immersive effect, one needs to stand before his wall-size prints.

“The landscape and light, along with the use of a long exposure,” Smith said, “create a world that can only be seen in print form.”