Bay area photographer Josh Smith explores the strange and beautiful world inhabited by new parents from a unique and personal perspective. His images pulse with the joy and heartache of parenting and capture the humor and pathos of family life in all its topsy-turvy chaos. The First Years is a personal exploration of family dynamics in a time of transition, with all of its attendant turbulence and emotion. As Smith explains in his artist statement, the many challenges faced by new parents bring forth a myriad of conflicting feelings and issues that led to this body of work. Smith's photographs are paired with a wonderful short story by Natalie Hegert, The Leap, which explores these themes from the mother's perspective, giving voice to the silent protagonist in his images.
“...These opposing experiences are echoed in the charged luminance of the photographs. The light reveals and enlivens the surfaces it encounters, while simultaneously acting as a tool of erasure and reorientation. The resulting pictures serve as place markers for intangible moments of fear, confusion, and elation —the dark and the light.”
