Meet Henry Holmes Smith: A Photographer Drawing with Light

Read About Photographer Henry Holmes Smith

Henry Holmes Smith was a super creative photographer and amazing teacher! In 1937, he helped start a cool photography program at Indiana University, where he taught for 30 years.

In 1946, Henry began making what he called “Light Study” photos. This started as an assignment for his students. He would use wood, paper, and refractive objects to play with and bend light from a projector and capture these “studies” through photographs.

Later on, Henry got even more creative. He took big pieces of glass and drew on them with a mix of light and dark corn syrup. Imagine that—drawing with syrup! Then, he flashed light through the glass onto special paper and made awesome prints. If he liked how it looked, he copied it onto film. His pictures often had shapes that looked like people or mythical creatures.

Refraction is like magic for light! It happens when light bends or changes direction as it passes through different things, like water or glass.