About

Welcome

J. Sybylla Smith brings a concept development lens to her work as an independent curator, teacher and consultant. She is the host of the Concept Aware® podcast, focusing on concept development for artists and advocacy for gender parity in photography.

Sybylla consults with international photographers to refine ideas, develop portfolios, hone projects, create exhibitions and complete book proposals. Her applicable creative framework, Concept Aware®, provides specific tools to visual artists to bring their abstract ideas to fruition in image and text.

As a curator, Smith has created individual and group exhibitions featured in museum, gallery and festival formats. She has featured 115+ international photographers in over 30 exhibitions in the U.S., Mexico, Columbia and Japan.

Smith’s role as an educator introduces Concept Aware® in lecture and workshop formats. Her podcast, Concept Aware®: How You See & Why It Matters, is an educational force—a veritable masterclass of concept development rooted in the contemporary photobook-making process. 

My Background

After combining a graduate degree in counseling and advocacy with one in design, Syb began creating visual content for global advertising campaigns and print publication editorials. She steered conceptual development as a stylist, art director and creative director. 

As an adjunct professor, guest lecturer and thesis advisor, Syb has worked with The School of Visual Arts NYC, Harvard University, Wellesley University, Emerson College, The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and Emmanuel College.

Sybylla has juried a number of global competitions for Photoville, Photolucida, the Journal Collective, Leica Akademie and Neutral Density Photography Magazine. 

She writes and publishes articles and book reviews in professional journals. She was the guest editor for the first all-women’s issue of ZEKE, coalescing the work of over 200 women artists across the globe. She speaks at academic conferences on a range of subjects—from gender equity in the arts, to elements of the creative process and the role of the photobook in visual culture. 

Sybylla is currently researching and writing a manuscript under the working title, Concept Aware®: How You See & Why It Matters. It is a primer on concept development and creative process, illustrated with examples of contemporary photography that will serve as a valuable and accessible guide for understanding the creative process and sustaining an active creative practice.