A criticism leveled at the late photographer Rodney Smith was that his portraits were too static, too posed. Indeed, the composition of the images is so precise that they almost seem too beautiful to be true. And yet, Smith insisted, most of the time he didn’t even know he was going to take a photograph until moments before. “They are extremely spontaneous,” he said. Such paradoxes define Smith’s oeuvre. Even tightly framed, his subjects balance precariously on ledges and ladders. The portraits have a stillness about them, and yet the presence of cars, boats, and planes suggests movement. Surreal but never silly, mysterious without being aloof, irreverent yet not cynical, Smith’s work is completely original. Coinciding with the release of Rodney Smith: A Leap of Faith, a selection of his iconic photographs are on view at Robert Klein Gallery. —Paulina Prosnitz