Polly Smith

Frances Sutah "Polly" Smith (December 29, 1908 – June 18, 1980) was an American documentary and commercial photographer, best known for her images of Texas taken for the Texas Centennial Exposition in 1936. Smith's photographs are considered some of the first taken of Texas for marketing and publicity use. ' For a while, she worked as a keypunch and tabulator operator for the Texas State Highway Department. She studied there for two years.

Career

Texas Centennial Exposition In October 1935, Smith was hired as a freelance photographer by the Texas Centennial Exposition publicity department. She travelled alone across Texas for approximately eight months

Using her 5X7 Home Portrait Graflex camera, she initially took photographs in Austin and East Texas, areas familiar to her. In December 1935, Smith headed to the Rio Grande Valley. During this time, she would take photographs and then develop them later, while staying in hotels throughout the state. and the Adolphus Hotel, displayed her work before and during the Centennial. The group raised money for troops by selling war bonds, stamps, and working extra jobs.

In Spring 1948, she moved back to Austin to attend the University of Texas. She studied painting and sculpture.

Legacy In December 1938, Texas Parade'', called Smith "one of Texas' finest artists with a camera. . . . Miss Smith uses a vivid imagination that gives her photographs a unique distinction in the pictorial arts". Her work has been called "remarkable for unique blend of the realistic and artistic".

Today, some of her photos are permanently mounted in East Texas and North Texas rooms in the Hall of State at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas.