Dark Side of the Lens by Mickey Smith

Dark Side of the Lens

Surfing
by Cody Doucette Dec 2, 2011


Renowned Irish surf photographer Mickey Smith’s short film is nothing short of mind blowing and speaks strongly to anyone who has a passion for the world around them and capturing that world in photographs.

WHEN MICKEY SMITH SAYS in the opening moments of his powerful short film Dark Side of the Lens, “I see the world in angles, lines of perspective, a slight turn of the head…the blink of an eye. Subtle glimpses of magic other folks might pass by,” it is perhaps the simplest and most elegant description I’ve ever heard of what it is to be a photographer.

Mickey is a surf photographer, and the film pays homage to all those faceless photographers who toil behind the lens in harsh conditions throughout the world’s oceans for little or no money. But when Smith claims, “If I only scrape a living, at least it will be a living worth scraping,” it transcends surf photography and speaks to anyone who has carried a camera into difficult or dangerous conditions with the goal of capturing those fleeting moments of magic and perfection.

Dark Side of the Lens by Mickey Smith

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