Front and Center: Communicators

Matt Smith, CEO at SmithGifford.

Over the past few years I have been working with Capitol Communicator on the ongoing personal project series “Up Close and Personal,” profiles of communicators in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Through this series, I have been fortunate to cross paths with an eclectic group of people in the communications field, and to learn their stories.

These are the people that create the campaigns that you see, but for the most part remain unseen themselves – art directors, creative directors, designers, agency owners, public relations professionals and so on. Their stories and paths are as varied as the content they create.

I photograph real people more than I do models. When I make images of people who aren’t used to being in front of the camera, I embrace the challenge of making them comfortable in a short amount of time. I always go out of my way to make the subjects look their best, exploring the details –the architecture of their faces, the texture of their clothes – to present them in the truest, most sincere way.