Aaron Smith
Photographer and Director
_{Based in Los Angeles}

Say hi: [email protected]

Representation:

Fox Creative
Paige Long : [email protected]
Iris : [email protected]

Syndication:

Trunk Archive
Francesca Soroka
[email protected]

Gallery Stock
Jen Fox Freeman
[email protected]

Born and raised in Kansas City, I was always interested in art, but my life really started taking shape when I picked up my first skateboard at age 13. Shortly after, I got my first camera, and the two blended together right away. I spent all of high school skateboarding and photographing my friends, which led to my work being published in the skateboard magazines I grew up reading, while I was still in high school.

From there, I attended the Savannah College of Art and Design. My first year was spent in Savannah, Georgia, far from any real skateboarding. I would flip through skate magazines at the store and feel the strongest pull to be back in that world. So after my first year, I switched to the Atlanta campus and made photographing skateboarding my ultimate goal. I tried to turn in skate photos for every school assignment.

After graduating, my then-girlfriend (now wife) and I moved to California. I took every contact I had and slowly made my way into the industry, eventually becoming a staff photographer at Skateboarder Magazine, the first magazine I was ever subscribed to as a kid. It was a crazy full circle. I began traveling the world with skateboarders I grew up watching. A few short years later, the magazine went out of business, and I transitioned into the photography I do now.

I took everything I learned from photographing skateboarding and applied it to lifestyle and sports advertising. My background made me look at things differently: unique angles, getting up close to the action, and hopping fences to get a shot were nothing new to me.

Building this career outside of skateboarding has been an amazing experience. I thought as a kid that I would stay in the skate industry for the rest of my life, but I realized that was just the first step. I love the work I'm doing now, and I get to collaborate with incredibly creative people, from my crew to the agencies and clients who hire me. I've been lucky enough to work with some of the biggest companies in the world, and I still get that first-day-of-school feeling whenever I'm on set. I love it so much.

I now live just north of Los Angeles. When I'm not on set or behind the computer, I spend time with my wife and our dog, Milo. My hobbies and interests still include skateboarding, running, cycling, archery, and trying my best to be a handyman around the house.

You can learn more about me by watching these two video interviews Sandisk created.