Viridian Artists takes pleasure in presenting Robert Smith's new color photographs in an exhibition titled "Not to be Missed", which is clarified by the subtitle "upclose, undisturbed, natural landscapes you didn't see." The exhibition opens April 8th through April 26th with a Reception on Thursday, April 10th from 6 to 8 p.m.

As in previous exhibitions of his imagery, Smith's photography continues his love affair with that which lies close by his feet as he walks the natural landscape. It's a focus rather foreign for most of us as we continue to look more at the vistas. He acknowledges the practice of "Sensory Awareness" that has been called the Western Zen, which brings him, in quiet, more into the present moment. This practice informs his vision, giving him a special way of seeing the nearby landscape that others do not see. He feels that his acute "seeing" of it's richness is a gift worth sharing.

In recent years, Smith has come to view the landscape as presenting a window onto a short narrative, a story contained in a composition. Naturally, bringing with him his life experience, his mind's eye sees the story unfolding within a particular aspect of the natural landscape that he captures with a clarity of composition that belies the need for cropping or rearranging. In the current atmosphere of increasingly more image manipulation, it's refreshing to have a photographer reveal his subject with simplicity and directness and the un-manipulated reality of what it is.

In the current exhibition, "Hands to the Heavens" combines a symbolic reach of humanity to the cosmos within the microcosm of a square foot of landscape while "Seaweed Circus" offers a jambalaya of imagery in a caldron of shoreline, presenting both as unique narratives of storytelling of a highly personal nature and vision.

Smith' s photographs are in numerous collections across five Continents. He lives and works in New York City and has a summer studio on an island off the coast of Maine. There he offers "Steps to Seeing" walks to share his way of seeing with others. Smith comments that it's a joy for him to hear the words "you've changed my life" from another human being. We invite you to share his unique vision in the hopes that you too will come to see the world upclose in a whole new light.