Some 60 years back, a kindergarten teacher introduced Greg to show and tell. He shared his Tonka dump truck and became a storyteller.
He grew into a photographer, writer, editor and producer. He and his wife, Janet, are imediaSmith. In 2013, after 27 years in the South Carolina Lowcountry, they moved themselves and their business to Westcliffe, in southern Colorado’s High Country.
At his core, Greg is a photojournalist and editor, who:
- Photographs people doing what they do, from intimate interactions to large events and action – as well as posed portraits.
- Focuses on storytelling moments and sequences.
- Strives for precise visual and verbal language and technique.
Greg has worked as: a news, portrait, sports, corporate and commercial photographer; a newspaper and magazine editor; a news, public relations, advertising and technical writer; a nonprofit board member; a cookbook co-author; an account executive; a producer; a location scout; a teacher and lecturer; and a kayak tour guide. From 2013 to 2015, he was a university communications strategist, using all these skills to help Western State Colorado University tell its story and lift enrollment by double digits.
He paddled a tidal salt marsh twice a week for a dozen years to gather pictures, video and audio for his master’s-degree project, “Keeping the May River Wild.” It earned Best of ASMP and Southern Lens awards, screening at five film festivals and on SCETV. Greg continues to photograph the outdoors on hikes, paddles, bike rides, ski trips, long drives and right out his back door. He brings lessons and reflexes from the wild back to documenting people, their habits and their hopes.
He’s advocated for photographers’ and journalists’ rights, taught others, organized events and helped keep volunteer organizations running. Greg received NPPA‘s Joseph Costa Award and a Leadership Award from the International Photographic Council of the United Nations. He wrote NPPA’s Cost of Doing Business Calculator and edited several key initiatives, websites and amicus briefs. He has also worked locally on boards directing and volunteer crews serving planning, recreation, tourism, education, arts, public utility and conservation groups.
Greg holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and Master of Arts in Visual Communication degrees from Ohio University. He’s attended dozens of business, creative and technical seminars and workshops. He exhibits with the Sangres Art Guild, and occasionally, elsewhere.
He has helped design and launch several new publications, and helped write and illustrate the popular Gullah Home Cooking the Daufuskie Way, UNC Press, 2003. In 2022, he launched both May River Mountain Press and its first book Altitude Adjustment: A Book of ‘Chairlift Pictures.