In 1982 Jazz singer Bobby Mcferrin’s debut album redefined vocal styling with a rich command of phrasing that literally made him a star and all this was evidenced with his version of the song Moondance. Six years later the polyphonic virtuosity of McFerrin would sell more than four million copies in the US alone with his ode to Indian mystic Meher Baba — Don’t Worry, Be Happy.

I went to see McFerrin in concert at the height of his popularity and he walked on stage with just a microphone intent on entertaining the audience with his sonic wizardry. Twenty minutes into his show he was met with jeers and taunts by a disgruntled crowd that prompted him to drop the mic and leave the stage — to great applause. Now where am I going with this, and more importantly; what’s the point?

There is an amazing parallel between jazz and photography. During the course of their histories and evolution the definitions of the art form and the innate constitution of boundaries have always been in forward motion. For photography, advances in technology have created progress that appears to be as infinite as an unencumbered imagination. “Unreal Portraits” by Teresa Kirby Smith is soaring and unrestrained as it leaves the tenets of convention and context. It is also a tenuous balance between success and failure and this equilibrium can be swung to either side by how receptive the viewer is to the visual narrative and how satiated the viewer is by the monotony of singular technique and the unvarying pitch of a nebulous hum.

Every audience has expectations and Teresa Kirby Smith challenges her audience with the improvisation of rendering in the use of contrast and depth of field. Exposure and the lack of focus and the manipulation of light certainly demonstrate a willingness to challenge; but the larger question is: where should the expectations of the viewer be? The technical vocabulary used in every image in certain instances feels like a vaporous barrier that depreciates emotional content and composition. This aspect of the exhibition was not edified and lost ground despite the clarity of the artist’s statement. “Apparition Takes A holiday” and “The Tie That Binds” speak resoundingly with a pronounced technical articulation that is well executed and unique in conception.

This show has an internal logic with a unique perspective offered by Kirby Smith as it relates to her subjects. The muting of shape and form and a denial of fundamental elements such as texture, pattern and contrast disengages the viewer’s attention with a subversionary distance; it is an inaccessible distance at times that has the sensation of inharmonious sound. What may be captivating or even stunning in the alchemy of light is left unresolved or maybe it is to serve a discordant purpose that truly confuses the line of sight and evaporates any emotional appeal. This theme was present in “Contempt,” “Dazzled By The Light” and “In Trouble Again.” The innate drama and narrative posed by “Offstage, Awaiting Cue” did not feel realised as the imaginative hints of possibility are secondary to artistic control via technical veneers. In isolation this piece may be free of the dissonance that appears inherent in the collective of this show.

On that summer night in 1989, Bobby McFerrin indulgenced his vanity and narcissistically vamped until it prompted a nefarious disengagement by his audience. At first blush, this show seems to be treading on the same thin ice with its representations of contrary archetypes, a dichotomy of inverted conceptual terms and perception. While this may be subjective, what is not is with these specious images there is an inability to isolate the foreground from the background which suggests an illusory silence. To have this repeated from image to image is indicative of self-awareness, artistic intent and conviction by Teresa Kirby Smith.

It is always admirable to strive for the evocative high ground of creativity and “Unreal Portraits” is a show where the impressions are atmospheric and the intention of the aesthetic is elusive. “A Stranger Knocks At Your Door” is a marriage of title that palpably solicits a deep reaction that may not have occurred if the reliance was on image alone. The technical prowess is prominent; effectively minimising emotional content and hanging composition on multivalent interpretations. With this piece it is pointedly redirected and defined by the strength of written words.

Teresa Kirby Smith is to be applauded for challenging the notions of what photography is; for extending the reach of the morphemes of language within the lexicon of her images. This show may charm viewers with its manipulation of elements, or it may prompt a hankering for more accessible photography — either way the provocative possibilities of interpretation are not diminished.

“Unreal Portraits” is open through November 19.