The future is always uncertain as an endless list of variables and their endless chaotic interactions create an ever-evolving image of what is to come. Incessant efforts are made to parse the murky mud of knowledge, desperately clinging to forms, trying to make abstract things concrete. This effort to derive predictability from turmoil impacts efforts at every scale, from the personal to the nationwide, and is the backdrop for Ming Smith’s solo exhibition, “Sensing the Future,” at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Arts. In this photography exhibition, Smith embraces the hazy nature of the future rather than resisting it. With a sultry description, he imagines what lies ahead.

The artist’s first major exhibition spanning his career is also Smith’s first exhibition in Atlanta. Presenting works from the artist’s fifty-year career to date, the exhibition highlights Smith’s masterful handling of lens-based media. Despite decades of artwork displayed, the outlines of the portrait remain; Nearly every image features human subjects. In mostly urban or interior settings, these figures are rarely seen in their entirety. Clinched by the edge of the image, obscured by a device, or obscured by shadows, the figures are never fully revealed; Only a part of it can be observed. What little is visible is made more obscure by blurring. Sharp edges are rare in these works; Smith regularly captures figures in motion or photographs his subjects out of focus. This, complete with low-key lighting, stifles any hope of a clear understanding of the image. If photography is sometimes described as an “objective documentary” artistic medium, Smith is documenting the futility of understanding a subject in its entirety.

But still, an understanding emerges among these gloomy shadows, blurry shapes and striated lines of movement. Due to their lack of definition, these artworks have a timeless feel, save for the appearance of identifiable figures such as Sun Ra, Malachi Favors, and Grace Jones, iconic Black figures in mainstream culture who provide a kind of timestamp for the images. These prominent Black figures were photographed engaging in their own crafts; Jones in the dressing room, Favors on stage behind the press, Sun Ra gyrating during the performance. These figures became known as the avant-gardes of music and fashion, and they only achieved this status after difficult years of remaining unapologetically committed to their Black identities and communities. These photographs, taken in the 1970s and viewed today in 2024, show that if one is willing to look beyond what one knows and understands, one’s vision of the future is already manifesting itself.

There is a small meditation area at the entrance of this exhibition, separate from the rest of the exhibition area. In this darkly painted room are several of Smith’s belongings. transcendence series — photographs overpainted by the artist. These additions create visual static by covering the underlying image with a thick mesh of contours and muted colors. These are the least visually understandable works of art in the exhibition. transcendence Works of art offer the greatest potential for interpellation. As seen in Smith’s portrait, the future lies in the uncertainty of the present. So what’s in this visual cacophony? What future could emerge from this incomprehensibility? As Smith so clearly demonstrates with his portraits of iconic Black figures, the answer is clear: The future is Black and mystical, incomprehensible, and already taking shape before your eyes.

“Ming Smith: Sensing the Future” On view at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Arts through December 7, 2024.