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Community Archive



The Willi Smith Digital Community Archive invites friends, collaborators and admirers of American designer Willi Smith to share in writing his history. This site collects and publishes personal recollections, new scholarship, video, and digital ephemera that contributes to a greater understanding of Smith’s life, work, and times.


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Willi and Toukie Smith, Photographed by Anthony Barboza, 1978 Willi and Toukie Smith, Photographed by Anthony Barboza, 1978

Anthony Barboza



I met Willi twice; the first was when I photographed him and his sister Toukie together. He was a very unusual and powerful spirit—gentle and very kind. Photographing the two of them was like shooting one person. They were two halves of a whole, with each partner giving to the other partner, like twins.

When you meet a person like Willi, you receive something and you give out something. I’ve photographed people for fifty-five years, and very few stand out in my mind as having had that special aura about them. Alice Walker, James Baldwin, and Cesar Chavez had it, and so did Willi Smith.


This website was designed by and created in collaboration with Cargo, as part of its ongoing initiative to support arts, design and culture.

This website was designed by and created in collaboration with Cargo, as part of its ongoing initiative to support arts, design and culture.