Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Zack Smith. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Zack, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
My parents were tough on me. I think that’s why I’m tough on myself today. I could tell you a hundred things wrong with my last photo and what would make it better. But that’s okay. I was tough on them too. Despite us often being at odds, my parents taught me how to think, to love to learn, and they invested in my interests.
I’ll never forget a conversation I shared with my dad one night when I was younger:
We were in my bedroom saying goodnight, and before he turned out the light, I asked him what was causing a particular shadow on my wall. I don’t remember what that shadow was, but I remember him saying, “It’s good to think like that.” For a long time, I appreciated that memory in a figurative way, but now as a photographer it feels literal. My dad taught me to question shadows.
My dad is a successful industrial engineer. Before he settled into his career, his creative outlet wasn’t photons hitting a light sensor. It was decibels hitting eardrums. He loved building car speaker boxes and then speeding down country roads blasting rock ’n roll, beats and lyrics that would later become my favorites. Growing up, I loved hearing him reminisce about pouring over books on the physics of sound and building competition-winning car stereos and even making one out of cardboard. My dad model a love for learning and creativity.
My mom is a teacher. Her love for stories, poetry, and language left an indelible mark on me. That’s what I do full time now. Educator by day. Photographer by night. Like her, I love teaching kids to read, write, and think. I love characters, lyrics and poems, and simply playing around with language. It was hard to explain why I was suddenly drawn to photography at 25. But it made a lot more sense when I realized photography literally means writing with light.
My parents shared their passions with me and gave me ways to explore and express my own. Sometimes my interests looked like theirs, and sometimes they didn’t, and that was okay. My parents supported me.
Zack, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
During the week I teach middle-school students English, and this summer I’ll be teaching abroad for the first time. I truly love teaching, but the days when I get to do photography after school are even better.
Photography started as a creative outlet for me. My dad got me my first camera for Christmas in 2021. Before then, I felt like I had a strong urge to create but nowhere to put that energy. I enjoy writing and had even thought about making a short film with my brothers someday. Photography felt like a step in that direction. I picked up the camera to learn my way around lighting and composition, and I quickly fell in love with the medium and its steep learning curve.
I’m a portrait photographer. When my work is its best, the shots feel like a character study, a lyric or poem, or simply playing around with color. Some of my favorite shoots are in the city at night, though lately I’ve been enjoying the studio too. Overall, I love creating and working with other people, especially writers, musicians, models, dancers, and actors. I enjoy working with people who have a strong vision or who enjoy experimenting.
Models and actresses have told me that the photos we created together helped them get booked because our images showed a different side of them. That’s my goal. I want people to walk away with photos that represent them yet stand out.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
This question brings to mind one of my favorite lyrics, “The point of the journey is not to arrive.”
The final photos aren’t the only reward for me. What I love most is everything that leads to the delivery. Thinking through the shoot, the experience and connection during the shoot itself, and what I learn along the way that will make the next one a little bit better. I enjoy hearing what’s going on in the subject’s life and what interests them. I can’t describe how happy I am while editing and listening to my Spotify weekly discover or my brothers’ playlist. Ultimately, I value my client’s satisfaction with the final images, knowing what we created feels representative of them and is something they can be proud to use. The process is so rewarding.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I don’t believe in non-creative people. I think creativity shows up differently in everyone.
When I got into photography in my mid-twenties, it caught some people off guard. There was this question of why this? Why now? Even from me. And I didn’t have a great answer. But I knew I felt an intense desire to understand what makes a photograph good, and that became hard to ignore.
I’ve noticed a stigma around portraiture— that it’s vain. And maybe it is. I’ve even had people tell me, “You don’t have to photograph people.” But there’s a humanity in portraits that I love. And I think everyone deserves to have a cool photo of themselves that they like. It’s okay to be proud of how you look. It’s okay for a portrait to be beautiful, for an image to hold your attention.
For me personally, I find my portraiture feels less like documenting reality and more like play. That’s what I love about it. I have a lot of respect for photographers who chase real, fleeting moments. But what I’m drawn to is trying to create a moment. The whole process is meaningful to me.
For a long time, I couldn’t articulate any of this and still struggle to. But I don’t think everything needs to be understood. By yourself or by other people. Don’t ignore a creative impulse because you feel like you need to rationalize it or explain it to others. At a certain point, understanding matters less than acting on that impulse and loving the process.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Kristen Smith, Kelsey Dietz, Yasmin Dickerson, Victoria Vassar, Audrey Venable, Zhelsea Davidson, Kamryn Grace, Bayli Strickland