He fell in love with the art form as he began to capture images of the Central District communities he grew up in– both the close-knit West Indian immigrant community of his family and the diverse group of Irish, Italian, Japanese, and African American kids who were his childhood friends.

As a young man in the 1930s, Al traveled the world as a steward on steamships. In 1939, he returned to Seattle from his final voyage and brought with him a professional camera. As Al married and started to raise a family, he also began to explore his own city with the curiosity that had carried him across the world. He carried his camera wherever he went, capturing friends and family, meeting and gatherings, and the vibrant social life of the Central District in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s.

Al never stopped taking photographs. Later in life, he returned to the photos he took in his earlier days and began the process of organizing and sorting them. When Al Smith passed away in 2008, he left an unparalleled document of the city’s history.

The district was particularly lively during World War II. Thousands of soldiers and wartime construction workers—many of them African American—flooded into the city. After work, they jammed clubs to socialize and catch a set by superb local musicians or some of the hottest players in jazz, who would often drop by while on tour.

With an ear for music and an eye for a bright moment, Al Smith started taking photographs on Jackson Street in 1940. Al is best known for capturing images of musicians and patrons alike in Seattle’s lively jazz scene. These compelling photographs provide a visual record of a chapter that otherwise might have been lost.

This exhibit focuses on Al’s photography from the 1940s, 50s, and 60s– decades that saw the largest migration of African Americans in the history of the Pacific Northwest. Thousands of African Americans arrived in the Pacific Northwest during and after World War II. Most joined a small but vibrant black community that was already evolving in Seattle’s Central District. Despite blatant forms of discrimination and racial prejudice, the neighborhood would become a thriving center for African American culture and life.

Al’s photographs are an unparalleled view into the life of this community.

MOHAI created a small display of Al’s work in 1986 and a larger exhibit in 1995. In 2014, Al’s family donated his lifework of about 40,000 images to MOHAI.

Museum staff worked closely with the Black Heritage Society of Washington State, the Smith family, and many members of the community to organize, inventory, identify people and locations in the photographs, and collect oral histories connected to Al’s life and subject matter. The museum continues to work with the community to catalog, preserve, and interpret these photographs.