Darkside Of The Lens

Mickey Smith is an artist who challenges normality within the genre of surf photography by using cinematography to enhance the concept of place and environment in his films. His work shooting off the west coast of Ireland not only provides agency to the Emerald Isle as a hot spot for big wave surfing, but in this authors opinion, is also challenging the dominant cultural stereotypes which places the practice of surfing exclusively among bikinis and board shorts. 

In his film Darkside Of The Lens, Smith allows the audience to be included in the photographic experience, to witness the conditions in which the Irish surfing identity is manufactured. His personal context represented in the narration further draws the mind of the viewer, and reminds us that these somewhat magical experiences are a product of the everyday consciousness and drive for creativity. Just as Dziga Vertov's Man With A Movie Camera had done some eighty-five years prior, Darkside Of The Lens creates an alluring voyeurism for any audience who is overwhelmed by the inconceivable.

Darkside Of The Lens is also available on: Vimeo