My photographic career started when I was 17 and bought a second-hand 35mm Practica MTL-50 camera with 50mm lens off my big brother. Within a couple of rolls of Kodak film I was taking good, clear photographs around Heythrop Park in Oxfordshire where I was living at the time.
I was truly hooked on photography and buying that camera changed the course of my life.
2 years later and I took a job in a local Photographic store in Stratford Upon Avon where I was then living. Whilst working there, I met various actors and media personalities from the Royal Shakespeare Company (the RSC Theatre was just around the corner) and elsewhere. Whilst working at that photography store I bought my first Nikon 35mm SLR - an FA with a 35mm to 105mm zoom lens and that was the start of a lifetime of shooting with the Nikon. I must admit to owning a few other makes of camera over the years, but I have always returned to the Nikon brand.
Then the freelance photographic jobs started coming in.
A stint at North Warwickshire College of Art & Technology studying Photography under the expert guidance of Nicola Clennell-Kitson and more freelance opportunities followed. My first appointment as a photographer was working for a now defunct company photographing babies and children in department stores across the Midlands. I left just before Christmas 1989 and two months later I'd joined a professional Audio-Visual company near London and my career really took off. I haven't looked back since.
You name it and I've probably taken a picture of it over the years. Big buildings to ball bearings, kids to Page 3 models and much, much more. But my real passions are cars/motorsport and travel photography. You'll find 2 sections dedicated to these areas in the index on the left-hand side of this page. Many of the images I've taken over the years can't be shown on this site as I don't have permission or own the copyright.
However, I've had untold numbers of images published in local newspapers, websites and magazines. I've undertaken assignments for a myriad of companies and individuals including organisations as diverse as The Independent Porsche Enthusiasts Club, Coathanger Magazine, The Stratford Upon Avon Herald Newspaper, Wycombe Sound radio station, WHBA, Shen Milsom & Wilke LLP, Kramer Electronics, Edric Audio Visual/Fidelity Films, Space Elevator, Music On The Hill, Frogfest, Paper Planes, Mr Chris Lillingston-Price, The Tall Persons Club, All Torque Magazine, Mr Peter Diamant, Bucks Breakfast, AV Magazine, InAVate Magazine, The Saville Group Ltd, RGB Communications Ltd, IML Group Ltd, Mrs Rachel Martin and plenty more.
You can also find me in front of the camera (or microphone) on the History Channel, Discovery Channel, Yesterday, BBC2, BBC World News, Channel 4, Bucks Breakfast and a few other places, some of which are on YouTube with me talking about my hobby of underground exploration, photography, cars, motorsport, travel to far flung places or something else!
I'm updating this website with new images every week so please check back as it's evolving constantly.
I hold the UK Press Card, am a member of the British Association of Journalists and have taken photographs everywhere from the Sydney Opera House to the Pit Lane at Silverstone and Kabul in Afghanistan.
Photography - without doubt it's the most fun you can have with your clothes on.
Andrew Smith
January 2021
Copyright © 2021 Andrew Smith Photographer All Rights Reserved last Updated 18/01/2021
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