Lenard Smith

Lenard Smith (b. 1975) is a first-generation Ghanaian-American artist and educator who lives and works in Los Angeles. Smith combines his academic research interests, both the African diaspora and architecture, with photography, assemblage sculpture, painting, field recording, and film/video. He has exhibited his work throughout the United States and abroad; published nine artist books, including Refuge (Perimeter Editions, 2024), Melancholy Objects (Perimeter Editions, 2022), A Change of Scenery (Pau Wau Publications, 2013); and contributed photography to The New York Times, The Atlantic, and G2 | The Guardian.

His work is included in the permanent collections of The Wallis Annenberg Photography Department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), The Whitney and Lee Kaplan African American Visual Culture Collection at the Getty Research Institute, and Light Work (Syracuse, NY), among others. Smith is a 2024 MacDowell Fellow. He received an MFA in Advanced Photographic Studies from Bard College, which grounds his work in traditional practices and experimental methodologies. From 2023 - 2025, Smith was a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Art at the University of California, Riverside. In the Fall of 2025, Smith joined the faculty community at the University of Southern California, Roski School of Art and Design, teaching Large Format Photography. For the Spring 2026 Semester, Smith will return to USC to teach Topics in Advanced Photography.

Artist Photo by Lenard Smith.

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Website: https://www.lenardsmith.work

Social Media: IG: @archivethestudio