Luke Smalley

Luke Smalley (June 6, 1955 – May 17, 2009) was an American photographer known for capturing boys in adolescence and as a talented art director famous for creating "playful images that explored the intersections between fashion and masculinity". His work, which pairs a coolly minimalist aesthetic with a retro nostalgia, centers around his tongue-in-cheek take on the journey for truth inside the lives of small town youth, especially athletic, all-American, young men. Many of the photographs are homoerotic, yet sexually ambivalent and never perverse.

Early life Smalley was born on June 6, 1955, to parents Thomas J. Smalley Sr. and Julia Svatosky Smalley in Pennsylvania. He graduated from Rice Avenue Union High School in 1973. Following high school, he attended Hunter College and Northeastern University, before graduating with a degree in sports medicine from Pepperdine University. For the next several years, he worked as a model and personal trainer in California. His true love was photography, and he eventually became an independent Fine art and commercial photographer.

British menswear designer, Kim Jones, remembers collaborating with Smalley: "I remember shooting in an old Amish village with Luke during the winter — I think it must have been 15 degrees. The model, Ambrose Olsen, was freezing and shaking in the cold — he later told me that he wouldn’t have done it for anyone else except Luke because he was such a great guy." He continued, "Luke cared so much about everything in his work that everyone involved wanted to make anything happen for him. He was such a great talent who was underestimated by many, but I’m sure future generations will appreciate everything he’s done."

According to the publisher, "Girls left behind. Guys making bad choices. In his third book… photographer Luke Smalley continues his journey for truth inside the lives of small town youth. This poignant photo novella tells the story of consequence when innocence takes a wrong turn. Girls getting ready, girls getting anxious. Boys bored. Wide-eyed, raw off the football field. As in his past volumes, humor pervades: the sobering boys' plight is juxtaposed at Smalley's bemusement of the girls' preoccupation of what to wear."

Exhibitions 2002, Wessel + O’Connor Gallery, New York City, Gymnasium November 5 - December 19, 2009, ClampArt, New York City, Sunday Drive: A Memorial Exhibition April 2 – May 9, 2015, ClampArt, New York City, Luke Smalley: Retrospective November 29, 2018 – January 19, 2019, ClampArt, New York City, Luke Smalley: Exercise at Home

Death Smalley died unexpectedly on Sunday, May 17. 2009 at the age of 53. He is survived by two sisters, three brothers, four nieces, and four nephews. He is buried in St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church cemetery in Girard, Pennsylvania.