Zoom Vol.1|1
by Vincent Lee
It is hard to dispute that the Caribbean is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Whether it is fishing boats casting nets off blue-lined shores or Carnival celebrations under rose-colored skies, the Caribbean splendor begs to be photographed. It is therefore no coincidence that the islands have become the muse of photographer Alex Smailes. Born in the United Kingdom of Trinidadian and English parents, it was no coincidence that he returned to the Caribbean to stake his claim as an “up and coming” photographer. Over a relatively short professional career, Smailes has managed to accumulate a lifetime of experience. From capturing images of the Bougainville War in Papua New Guinea to the Venezuelan gold and diamond mining villages, the locally based photographer has had a remarkable career.
Formally trained at Filton College in Bristol, England, Smailes began building his oeuvre in the coastal waters of the Caribbean. Taking a hiatus from his education, Smailes spent time photographing the Bahamas, Trinidad and the Red Sea, developing an interest for traveling and diving along the way. In pursuit of his newfound passion for underwater photography, Smailes eventually left school to help film a documentary about marine life in the Persian Gulf. During his 13 month stay in the United Arab Emirates, Smailes met writers and journalists from all over the world and received an early indoctrination into investigative journalism.
Continuing his exploration into investigative journalism, Smailes traveled twice to Papua New Guinea. Initially covering the destruction of the rain forest, Smailes returned with a film crew from the UK to cover the strife between the inhabitants of Bougainville Island and the Australian government. The outcome of his latter visit, the film Coconut Guerillas, has received international acclaim. After returning to the UK, Smailes sold a lot of his work to London-based newspapers and magazines and became the youngest photographer in the UK to be signed with Paris’s Sygma (Corbis) photo agency. Having garnered additional photo assignments across the globe, Smailes moved on to capture images from Belfast to Bosnia. Today, his photographic eye focuses on life in the Caribbean.
For Smailes, coming to the Caribbean in 2000 to raise funds for a book, marked the turning point. Although he had not accomplished what he first set out to do, Smailes covered the millennium celebration in Tobago and stayed on to work on a tourism campaign. The following year the book deal and an advance from the publisher came through. He settled in Port-of-Spain to begin work on Trinidad & Tobago, a photographic journal capturing the personal and cultural pulse of Trinidad. Combining images of Carnival celebrations, landscape and people, the book became a long-term project that led Smailes into an intimate relationship with the islands.
Interacting with locals throughout Trinidad gave the world-traveled photographer an insight into the cultural and diverse fabric of the island. Smailes relished the opportunity to explore Trinidad with his camera. Any given day he could be found up in a tree, in a harness, in the rain forest, shooting an old plantation house or just chatting with sugar cane farmers. During this time, he began to forge relationships with people from all walks of life and all tiers of society, acknowledging that it was very important to remain objective on all issues. He noted that “Trinidad is a very multiracial and sensitive place to work.”
The efforts of publishing Trinidad & Tobago led Smailes into a long-term collaboration with Gareth Jenkins and Sam Clement. With their combined talents of photography, design and technology, the trio built a healthy relationship that eventually resulted in the formation of ABOVE in Port-of-Spain’s Fernandes Industrial Centre. ABOVE is a multi-disciplinary design studio, specializing in graphic design, web applications and photography that works with a cross-section of companies and organizations. Some of their projects include a photo calendar for Carib beer, a cell phone campaign for Digicel, an annual report for BG Gas Company and a retrospective book about locally based fashion designers.
As a founding partner, Smailes’ main activity has been ABOVE’s expansion into the local market. But the photographic lure of the “real” Caribbean is not far from his thoughts. Outside of his work at ABOVE, Smailes continues to do some investigative reporting for hire and is also pursuing a personal project documenting gang violence in Port-of-Spain’s ghettos. He has become a member of his local community and has shot there for the past few years. Smailes enjoys shooting the “normalcy of things.” His subject matter varies from gang killings to school activity days. People recognize him and give him free reign to shoot in often difficult situations.