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Smith lived in Los Angeles for many years before moving back to New York City.

Biography:

Smith dropped off a portfolio at MOMA where the receptionist mistook her for a messenger. When she returned, she was taken into the curator’s office. Susan Kismaric named a price for Smith’s work, which Smith declined initially. Kismaric asked Smith to reconsider, which led to her work being displayed in MoMA.

In 1973, Smith had her first exhibition at Cinandre, a hairdressing salon. At Cinandre, she met Grace Jones, who she photographed wearing a black and white tutu on ocassion. Smith recalls that she and Jones would talk about surviving as black artists. Ming Smith reflects on the memories by saying, "We came out of Jim Crow. And so just coming to New York and trying to be a model or anything was new."

Smith has been compared to Diane Arbus by her teacher, Lisette Model, in the past, despite going through different phases of their careers. Interest in Smith's work grew as it was recontextualized along with Arbus' work in MOMA's 2010 exhibition: Pictures by Women: A History of Modern Photography.

Artistic Style:

Some of Smith's work displayed in MoMA depicts motherhood in Harlem. These photos are taken using a documentary style way of photographing these subjects.

Her early work was composed of photos that were shot quickly to produce an elaborate scenes. Many of her photos have double dates on them due to this process.