Controlling Light with Matthew Jordan Smith

About: Matthew Jordan Smith Amelie's Influence When was the last time a movie made an impact on you? The movie Amelie is one of my all time favorites, and if you are a photographer or artist you owe it to yourself to see this film. I have just completed watching it for the zillionth time, and even though this film is in French I muted the sound and focused only on the images. Notice how the color's red and green play a strong roll in this movie. There are several times when the color blue is introduced but rarely. If you want to enhance your photography in any way, do yourself a favor and watch this film, then share how it's influence your work. Here is a sample of how it's influenced mine.

 Matthew Jordan Smith is a celebrity fashion photographer, author and instructor[1] born in Brooklyn, NY and raised in Columbia, South Carolina [2]. Smith attended the Art Institute in Atlanta, GA. After graduation, Smith returned to New York City to pursue photography full-time. Smith's big break came when he was hired by Essence Magazine to photograph Anita Hill. Smith went on to photograph high profile celebrities such as Tyra Banks, Vanessa Williams and Queen Latifah[3]. Smith's clients include Pantene, L'Oreal, Ebony and Essence[4]. In the Fall of 2001, Smith published his first book, Sepia Dreams-A Celebration of Black Achievement Through Words and Images, published by St. Martin's Press [5]. The book encompasses a collection of photographs and interviews with fifty African-American celebrities, all of whom spoke with Smith about the motivations and qualities that enabled them to find and embrace success. In June of 2003, Smith was honored by Eastman Kodak when they selected him as one of their Kodak Icons. [6] In 2006, Smith was commissioned to shoot the photos for the American Photos Mission Series, published by American Photo Magazine[7], sponsored by Microsoft and endorsed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Smith currently resides in the Greater Los Angeles Area. He has been a featured photographer on several cycles of America's Next Top Model[8], most recently Cycle 9 .