‘Multilocalism’ – Portraits of London by Andy Smith
As a part of Adobe’s ‘Visual Trend Multilocalism’, they are exploring how increased global consciousness and a yearning for authentic, local experiences are influencing visual culture. For photographer and Adobe Stock Premium contributor Andy Smith, Multilocalism is all about connections: “Multilocalism, to me, is the fact that there’s such a diverse group of people in one place, but that one place is connected through common interests.”
Smith’s home town, London, is exemplary of this diversity, as I can very well vouch. London welcomes millions of immigrants from all over Europe, Asia, North America, the Middle East, and beyond. The unique stories and customs these individuals bring weaves a robust mosaic of heritage and culture.
Smith was tasked Andy with capturing this vibrant scene in an exclusive photoshoot for Adobe Stock’s Premium collection.
Take a look at the results below…
A critical element to his shoot was authenticity. As Smith explains, “It’s not often I get a brief – be it a stock brief or a brief for a client – that doesn’t have the words genuine, authentic, real, in there somewhere. This is what people are looking for.” And diversity and authenticity go hand in hand. “As a stock photographer, diversity is important because we’re reflecting what’s going on in the real world, and the real world is diverse.”
So when it came to casting, Andy made a purposeful effort to find real people, rather than models. It was important to him to capture them in their natural element and document what they do on a daily basis, whether they are a cab driver, barber, butcher, or a traffic police officer.
This documentary approach is the norm for Smith. He sees photography, and stock photography in particular, as a way to satisfy his curiosity about people and places. “For me the interest in photography was always about people. It usually starts with the people and the location and those two things together tell a story, and we build the rest around it.”
Although all of the characters Smith photographed are from different business, as well as different backgrounds, what brings them together is their shared love for their multilocal city, London.
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Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter, creator of the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website— TheAppWhisperer.com— TheAppWhisperer platform has been a pivotal cyberspace for mobile artists of all abilities to learn about, to explore, to celebrate and to share mobile artworks. Joanne’s compassion, inclusivity, and humility are hallmarks in all that she does, and is particularly evident in the platform she has built. In her words, “We all have the potential to remove ourselves from the centre of any circle and to expand a sphere of compassion outward; to include everyone interested in mobile art, ensuring every artist is within reach”, she has said. Promotion of mobile artists and the art form as a primary medium in today’s art world, has become her life’s focus. She has presented lectures bolstering mobile artists and their art from as far away as the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea to closer to her home in the UK at Focus on Imaging. Her experience as a jurist for mobile art competitions includes: Portugal, Canada, US, S Korea, UK and Italy. And her travels pioneering the breadth of mobile art includes key events in: Frankfurt, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Paris, Brazil, London. Pioneering the world’s first mobile art online gallery - TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com has extended her reach even further, shipping from London, UK to clients in the US, Europe and The Far East to a global group of collectors looking for exclusive art to hang in their homes and offices. The online gallery specialises in prints for discerning collectors of unique, previously unseen signed limited edition art. Her journey towards becoming The App Whisperer, includes (but is not limited to) working for a paparazzi photo agency for several years and as a deputy editor for a photo print magazine. Her own freelance photographic journalistic work is also widely acclaimed. She has been published extensively both within the UK and the US in national and international titles. These include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Popular Photography & Imaging, dpreview, NikonPro, Which? and more recently with the BBC as a Contributor, Columnist at Vogue Italia and Contributing Editor at LensCulture. Her professional photography has also been widely exhibited throughout Europe, including Italy, Portugal and the UK. She is currently writing several books, all related to mobile art and is always open to requests for new commissions for either writing or photography projects or a combination of both. Please contact her at: [email protected]
