Polly Smith (photographer)
Polly Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | Frances Sutah Smith December 29, 1908 Ruston, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | June 18, 1980 (aged 71) Auburn, California, U.S. |
| Known for | Photography |
Frances Sutah "Polly" Smith (December 29, 1908 – June 18, 1980) was an American documentary and commercial photographer, best known for her images of Texas taken for the Texas Centennial Exposition in 1936. Smith's photographs are considered some of the first taken of Texas for marketing and publicity use.[1][2]
Early life
[edit]Polly Smith, born in Ruston, Louisiana, was the daughter of Roy Egerton Smith, a farmer and salesman, and Marion (Minnie) Burck, a former schoolteacher and United States census supervisor.[2] Her brother, C. R. Smith, became the CEO of American Airlines. After growing up in various Texas towns, she graduated from Austin High School in 1925.[3] For a while, she worked as a keypunch and tabulator operator for the Texas State Highway Department.[2]
In 1933, Smith briefly attended the University of Texas at Austin to study photography with John Kuehne. She withdrew from classes early to study photography at the Clarence Hudson White School of Photography in New York City.[2] She studied there for two years.
Career
[edit]Texas Centennial Exposition
[edit]In October 1935, Smith was hired as a freelance photographer by the Texas Centennial Exposition. [2] [4] She travelled alone across Texas for approximately eight months[3] and drove over 3,600 miles[2]. She initially took photographs in Austin and San Antonio, areas familiar to her. In December 1935, Smith headed to the Rio Grande Valley, Houston, and then back to San Antonio around February 1936.[3]
Initially staying in hotels along her route, she accumulating negatives and periodically stopped to develop them. Later a dark room was built onto the back of a truck, allowing her to drive around the state and develop her work along the road.[2] Her photographs appeared with hundreds of articles across the country in magazines like House Beautiful, Pictorial Review, Furniture Age, Architectural Forum, and many others. Texas Parade called Polly "one of Texas' finest artists with the camera," and stated that any illustrated book on Texas was likely to contain one or more of her "unusual" shots.[5] Today, some of her photos are permanently mounted in the Hall of State at Fair Park in Dallas.
Other work
[edit]After her work for the exposition, she was commissioned by various corporations to shoot series of pictures on specific subjects, including cotton, cowboys, and oil. She also shot a series on airplanes for American Airways and the Dallas Aviation School.[2]
Smith returned to Austin in 1944 where she attended the University of Texas, studying sculpture and Impressionistic painting until health concerns forced her to end her studies. She continued to paint and sculpt but fought cancer and debilitating illness for the rest of her life.
Death and Legacy
[edit]She died in Auburn, California, on June 18, 1980.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ "UTA News Center". Archived from the original on 2017-03-31. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Barker, Evelyn; Smith, Polly (2008). A Texas journey: the centennial photographs of Polly Smith /by Evelyn Barker; Polly Smith. Dallas, Tex: Dallas Hist. Society. ISBN 978-0-9800557-0-2.
- ^ a b c Barker, Evelyn (2007). "Polly Smith, Photographer: Telling the Story of Texas". Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas. 19 (1): 30.
- ^ Polatti, Gaylon; Barker, Evelyn (1994). "Texas Through the Lens: Polly Smith and the Texas Centennial". Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas. 6 (2): 20–27.
- ^ "TSHA | Smith, Frances Sutah [Polly]".
- ^ "TSHA | Smith, Frances Sutah [Polly]".
External links
[edit]- Handbook of Texas
- A Texas Journey, The Centennial Photographs of Polly Smith
- Polly Smith Centennial Photographs
- Polly Smith: Images of Texas
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