Ming Smith never set out to be a professional photographer.

She majored in pre-med in college and moved to New York to start a career as a successful model.

Through it all, her camera was at her eye.

“It became my best friend,” Smith said. “Photography was always there. It was my sense of truth.”

Her truth included portraits of icons of Black life such as James Baldwin and Grace Jones, a host of leading musicians like Tina Turner, as well as everyday life in marginalized communities in Harlem, Coney Island and other areas. 

She was invited to join Komoinge, the famed photography cooperative formed out of the Black arts and civil rights movements.

And the significance of her work led to two of her pieces being acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, a first ever for an African American woman.

Now, the International Center of Photography has honored Smith with its prestigious 2023 Infinity Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Throughout Smith’s success as a model, a dancer and a photographer, her motivation hasn’t remained the same.

“My work is about shedding light on Black culture,” she said. “It's about the continuation of my ancestry and honoring that.”