Ming Smith is known for her portraits of cultural figures, from Alvin Ailey to Nina Simone. She was an early member of the Kamoinge Workshop, a renowned collective of Black photographers. Smith is the first Black woman to have her photography included in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. Her work has also been collected by the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Schomburg Center, the Whitney Museum and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.