Lynn Goldsmith

Lynn Goldsmith’s imagery is in numerous collections: The Smithsonian, The Polaroid Collection, The Kodak Collection, The Museum of Modern Art, The Chicago Museum of Contemporary Photography, and the permanent collection of Museum Folkwang. She is a multi-awarded portrait photographer whose work has appeared on and between the covers of Life, Newsweek, Time, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, People, Elle, Interview, The New Yorker, etc. Her subjects have varied from entertainment personalities to sports stars, from film directors to authors, from the extra-ordinary to the ordinary man on the street. Her forty years of photography have not only been an investigation into the nature of the human spirit, but also into the natural wonders of our planet.

Lynn Goldsmith has been a consistent contributor to the highly acclaimed series ‘ Day in the Life ’ books as well as many other photography collections. Ten of her own photographic books have been published: Rock and Roll, The Police:1978-1983, Bruce Springsteen, The Police, New Kids, Circus Dreams, Photo Diary, Springsteen: Access All Areas, and Flower. Lynn’s professional achievements are in no way limited to the world of photography. She is the youngest member ever to be inducted into the DGA (Director’s Guild of America). In 1971, she was the director of Joshua Television, the First company to do video magnification for rock groups entertaining at large venues. In 1972, she was a director for the first rock show on network television: ABC’s “In Concert”. In 1973, Lynn Goldsmith directed “We’re An American Band”, the First music documentary to be released as a theatrical short. In the mid-seventies, Lynn stopped her directing to concentrate more fully on photography.

By the early 80′s Lynn Goldsmith departed from the worlds of both photography and film, to become an optic- music artist. Under the name Will Powers, she produced the album “Dancing For Mental Health” on Island Records. Lynn has written songs with recording artists such as Sting, Steve Winwood, Todd Rundgren and Nile Rodgers. Her debut album won critical acclaim and her single, Kissing With Confidence, reached #3 on the British charts. As was her plan, the videos from the album which she produced and directed became more than simply commercials for the album. They were used by the United States Department of Labor to inspire unemployed youths, and by the National Marriage Counsel in England. Will Powers’ videos have also been used by Harvard University to help with language instruction, and by other schools throughout the United States for their individual teaching needs. The Museum of Modern Art in New York City has two Will Powers videos in their permanent collection.

Though a Magna Cum Laude graduate from the University of Michigan, with a B.A. in both English and Psychology, Lynn Goldsmith considers herself a self-taught artist and entrepreneur. She was the founder of LGI Photo Agency, an organization which represented the work of over two hundred worldwide photographers. Established in 1976, LGI was one of the first agencies to specialize in servicing celebrity portraiture for editorial usage. LGI was sold in 1997 so that Lynn could more fully focus on making images.

The wide range of Lynn’s talents, skills and achievements are products of a belief she holds constant: Creativity is based on breaking limiting thought patterns.