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.
Twelve books of her photography have been published. She has been on The New York Times Best Seller list as well as won two Art Direction awards for them: Titles include Rock and Roll Stories, The Police: 1978-1983, Bruce Springsteen- Access All Areas,
The Police, New Kids, Circus Dreams, PhotoDiary, and
Flower. Lynn's professional achievements are in no way limited to the world of
photography. She is the youngest member ever to be accepted 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
directed "We're An American Band", the first music documentary to be released as a
theatrical short. In the mid-seventies, Lynn stopped directing to concentrate
fully on photography.
She has been a consistent contributor to the highly acclaimed series of Day in the Life
of books series as well as many other photography collections.
By the early 80's Lynn departed from the worlds of both photography and film, to
become the first ‘optic-music’ artist. Using the a.k.a. Will Powers, she produced the album
"Dancing For Mental Health" on Island Records. Lynn’s written songs with recording
artists 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 commercials for the record. 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 as she was among the first to do 3-dimensional computer animation.
Though a Magna Cum Laude graduate from the University of Michigan, with a B.A. in
both English and Psychology, Lynn 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 the first agency to specialize in servicing celebrity portraiture for
editorial usage. LGI was sold in 1997 so that Lynn could more fully focus on creating 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
, thus making anything possible.
