Ming Smith

Ming Smith (born 1947, Detroit, Michigan) is an American photographer based in New York whose work is known for its poetic, experimental approach to Black life, memory, and spirituality. Working primarily in photography, Smith’s practice explores themes of migration, cultural identity, performance, and the everyday experiences of Black communities. Her work is characterized by soft focus, motion blur, and atmospheric light, creating images that feel dreamlike and emotionally resonant rather than strictly documentary. Emerging in the 1970s, Smith became the first Black woman photographer to have her work acquired by the Museum of Modern Art. She was also a member of the Kamoinge Workshop, a collective of Black photographers dedicated to representing Black life with depth and complexity. Her photographs often depict musicians, dancers, and urban environments, capturing fleeting moments that evoke rhythm, movement, and presence. Smith’s work engages both personal and collective histories, using abstraction and improvisation to expand the possibilities of photographic representation. Influenced by jazz, literature, and Black cultural traditions, she approaches photography as a form of visual poetry, where image, time, and memory converge. Her practice resists fixed narratives, instead offering layered impressions of Black life that emphasize feeling, spirit, and transformation. Her work has been exhibited widely in major institutions and is held in significant public collections. Smith lives and works in New York.