Chapel Hill photographer set to visit Radford

Heather Evans Smith, a fine art conceptual portrait photographer, will visit Radford University on Feb. 6. As part of her visit, Smith will give a guest artist talk and be the juror for Southwest Virginia Juried Student Photography Show.

Smith’s talk will cover her expansive career, as well as the unexpected things that happen in a photography career. The “serendipitous nature of photography” is what repeatedly draws Smith to the field and is what helped her turn the passion into a career.

“Sometimes you think one thing is going to bring success and it doesn’t,” Smith said. “Something unexpected will bring success.”

Smith’s passion for photography goes all the way back to college, but came to fruition a decade ago.

“Initially I got back into photography to take photos of family and friends for fun. I unexpectedly started to gain an online following that led to paid photo shoots and fine art sales,” Smith said. “Photography snowballed into a new career for me.”

Another area Smith wants to focus on during her guest artist talk is the origin of inspiration.

“Sometimes, it’s a song lyric or even a vintage piece of clothing that creates an idea,” Smith said. “Lately, I’ve been drawing ideas from my own life and relationships with family.”

The Southwest Virginia Juried Student Photography Show is the other portion of Smith’s visit. The show receives submissions spanning all genres of photography, ranging from Smith’s own genre of portraits to landscapes.

 “I am drawn to my genre of photography, but when I see something different from my own work, like documentary or landscapes, it excites me,” she said.

Smith is also a juror for a worldwide child photography competition, which is occurring at the same time as Radford’s photography show.

Smith will be at the opening reception of the show, which is scheduled for Feb. 17 from 5-7 p.m. The Juried Student Show runs from Feb. 17 – Mar. 1. Her talk is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Feb. 6 in the Performance Hall at Covington Center. A reception will be held prior to the talk and both events are open to the general public.

The guest artist talk is sponsored by the Photography Club of Radford University and the Graduate Art Student Association, with funding assistance from the Club Programming Committee.

For a detailed list of upcoming events in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, check out its event calendar.