About Me

A Niagara based photographer since 1996 with a diverse portfolio, Joel Smith also creates food photography that evokes the emotional resonance of food, in both an immediate way, but that also speaks of a respect for food and it's implied and implicit environmental impact.

His first exposure to photography was in 1993 when hiking through New York State’s Adirondack Mountains. Later he moved to Banff to work in a hotel kitchen, where Joel also fell in love with food and the cooking atmosphere. Making the choice to continue to learn and grow his photographic skills and feed his creativity, Joel pursued a three year apprentice with three local photographers. This helped him develop his acumen in all the fundamentals of photography, including film & print processing, studio lighting and so much more. Mostly self taught, while Joel's commercial practice has been varied, including portrait & wedding photography. But Smith has always loved food photography - and how it intersects with his day to day life - and has returned to his first love.

When he joined the team of a local food truck in 2014, Joel's passion for cooking was reignited. Living and working in the Niagara Region of Ontario, Smith has been able to directly observe how the local food scene has been changing and growing (for example, top restaurants and chefs from all of Canada and the world are now making Niagara home). Smith has had the pleasure to work with some of the top chefs in the Niagara region, Hamilton, Toronto and beyond.

His eye for details combined with his extensive and assorted experience in food preparation gives him a unique edge and vision for your photography needs. His photographs act as an intersection of these passions.