Father + Son

Father & Son is a collection of photographs by British fashion designer Paul Smith and his father, Harold Smith. Pocketsize and unusually bound as a two-volume paperback, this series of photographs sums up the humor and acute observation which Paul Smith has brought to British design—few other designers have so successfully combined wit, originality and the highest standards of craftsmanship. Smith the younger explains his collaboration with his father in this way: ''My father, Harold Smith, by profession a credit draper in Nottingham, was a passionate amateur photographer and a co-founder of the Beeston Camera Club. When he wasn't supplying clothes and household goods direct to peoples' homes, he thought about composition, light, witty juxtapositions, experiment—not only taking photographs but also developing and printing all his own work in his home-made attic darkroom. In contrast, my snaps with an instant camera are about observation, humor and caught moments. Very different from my father's photographs, but, oddly, strongly similar. What a pair!''