“I believe Aretha would strongly encourage artists to embrace live performances, just as she did throughout her career,” says photographer Matthew Jordan Smith to the Phoblographer in an interview, specifically answering a question about what Aretha would think of AI and the advice she’d give to young artists. “In a world increasingly influenced by AI, I think we’re all yearning for genuine, real-world experiences. I’ve listened to Aretha’s music countless times, and while her recordings are incredible, there’s something truly unique about hearing her perform live that simply can’t be replicated.” Of anyone, Mr. Smith would know best — he was her photographer and immortalized her since 2005.
All images by Matthew Jordan Smith. Used with permission. Please visit Matthew’s Website and Instagram @matthewjordansmith. Aretha Cool can be purchased on Amazon using this link.
A Daunting Archive
Matthew speaks to how live performances are where artists really connect with their audiences—and that’s not just for the music world. It’s also in the photo world. In-person events and galleries hold our hearts’ hands in a unique way.
“Additionally, I think she’d encourage artists to explore diverse avenues like film and television, as she did with her role in The Blues Brothers and her memorable Super Bowl Snickers commercial. These opportunities not only broaden an artist’s reach but also add new dimensions to their creative expression.”
Aretha passed away on August 16th, 2018. The year after, Matthew contemplated putting together the book now called Aretha Cool. The COVID-19 pandemic put the project on hold. Despite thinking about the project often, it took the warm light of a fellow photographer to encourage him to finish the book. So he set about looking through his archive while playing Aretha’s music.
“I thought about all the lives lost to Covid and the dreams they would never realize,” Mr. Smith related to us. “I also remembered the first person I knew who passed away early in the pandemic—Aretha’s boyfriend, whom I had photographed many times alongside her. This brought me back to the images, and I spent hours revisiting them.”The process brought him immense joy. Matthew knew that Aretha’s fans deserved these images.
To say that the archive is huge is an understatement. Mr. Smith’s collection of images of Aretha Franklin star dates back to 2005, so he had to use Mylio to organize it into a calendar format. It’s rather extensive, and back then, he was shooting exclusively on film before moving to Sony and then Nikon—where he’s an ambassador right now. This made the whole editing process even more intense, though Matthew is enjoying sharing the fruit that he worked so hard to cultivate.
Aretha Cool: How Matthew Jordan Smith Learned to Trust
“The biggest challenge was trying to detach myself emotionally from the work,” he shares — remarking that he’s got a deep connection to the images and experiences. However, he realized that emotional attachment can add unneeded and blasphemous sugar to judgment’s perfect cup of coffee. This emotional intelligence made Matt look for a support network to get the project done. With the help of a talented printer and book designer, they sifted through the images. “Initially, I had a clear vision of what I wanted in the book, but I quickly realized the importance of having other perspectives on the work. The first draft of the book design took me by surprise.” Because of the designer’s input, folks who purchase Aretha Cool will get to see photographs that Matthew honestly overlooked previously. With a wonderful support network of students giving a nod of approval, Mr. Smith eventually began to trust others to guide the selection process.
Matt manifested this book by channeling what he thinks Aretha would advise younger artists. In a world where marketing reps attribute worth to engagement numbers, this book is a reminder of the pure power of the still image. While most folks know Matthew Jordan Smith for his commercial work, it’s sometimes his personal work that we want to cozy up to the most. In 2021, we featured a series of his called Still…Motion is still one of our favorites.
When his parents were in their final days, Mr. Smith photographed them very often so that he could keep those moments on ice. “To symbolize the passage of time, I placed a clock in my father’s hands and photographed him as he fought against Alzheimer’s,” Matthew tells us. “He passed on August 14th, 2022, but I have those images of him holding that clock, freezing that moment in time. I did the same with my mother during her battle with cancer before she passed on December 30, 2023.” These are only some of the reasons why Matthew still thinks that the still image can be very powerful.
Looking back, he wished that he had photographed Aretha with a timepiece of some sort.
Artha Cool by Matthew Jordan Smith is available in two versions: a standard and a Limited edition. The latter is signed and numbered. It also includes a signed print, acrylic book cover, foldout accordion print, a USB drive containing stories, etc. You can get the standard version on Amazon and the Limited Edition at the Aretha Cool website.