Brian Bowen Smith
# Brian Bowen Smith

Brian Bowen Smith is an American commercial and fine-art photographer known for his celebrity portraits. He was mentored by Herb Ritts who helped him discover his own personal photographic style.

## Life and career

### Early life

Bowen Smith was born and raised in Syracuse, New York. Before establishing his photography career, Bowen Smith was as an athlete and actor before meeting iconic American fashion photographer Herb Ritts. Bowen Smith worked as his assistant before pursuing his own photography career.

### Commercial career

Bowen Smith’s professional career spans editorial, advertising, fashion, and entertainment photography. He is known for his portraits of celebrities featured on the covers of magazines. His work has been featured in publications such as Vanity Fair, Esquire, Self, GQ, and Details.

Besides editorial work, Bowen Smith has photographed key art for multiple Netflix series including Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Chelsea Does, The Ridiculous 6, and The Do Over. Additional television photography credits include The Voice, House of Lies, Ray Donovan, Shameless, and Dice.

Bowen Smith has also photographed movie posters and advertisements for multiple major motion pictures. Recent credits include The Intern starring Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway and Central Intelligence starring Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart.

He has also worked with several fashion brands including Marc Jacobs. Projects with Marc Jacobs include a campaign to raise awareness of skin cancer and multiple advertising campaigns.

Marc Jacobs also co-hosted the launch party of Bowen Smith’s 2013 book titled Projects. Projects features a collection of celebrity portraits taken throughout his career including those of Jennifer Aniston, Cindy Crawford, Demi Moore, Hilary Swank, and Selma Blair.

### Fine-Art career

Beyond commercial photography, Bowen Smith made his fine-art debut in October 2014 with a collection called Wildlife. This solo collection was on display at De Re Gallery in Los Angeles and featured nude images of women wearing children’s animal masks. The identities of these women were kept anonymous allowing celebrities and models to participate.

In October 2015, Smith released a collection of nude photographs printed on metallic canvas called the Metallic Series.

### Personal

Bowen Smith lives with his wife and son in Los Angeles. He enjoys surfing, snowboarding, and riding his motorcycle.

## Editorial covers

2013 Miley Cyrus on Billboard Dwayne Johnson on Essence Cat Deeley on Women’s Health Kristen Bell on Redbook

2014 Nicki Minaj on Billboard Adrien Brody on Manhattan Magazine Chris Pine on The Hollywood Reporter Margot Robbie on Manhattan Magazine Eddie Redmayne on Gotham Channing Tatum on The Hollywood Reporter James Marsden on Los Angeles Confidential Dwayne Johnson on Men’s Health UK

2015 Gina Rodriguez on winter issue of Cosmopolitan Latino Chloë Grace Moretz on Angeleno Magazine Anne Hathaway on Marie Claire Japan Julianne Moore on Angeleno Magazine Melissa McCarthy on People

2016 Samuel L Jackson on Rhapsody Magazine Christina Aguilera on Women’s Health Drew Barrymore on Good Housekeeping Jessica Chastain on Angeleno Magazine Megan Fox on Glamour Mexico Christoph Waltz on GQ Germany Renée Zellweger on Stylist Chris Pine on GQ The Chainsmokers on Billboard

2022 Kelly Clarkson on Variety

## Album covers

2023 Kelly Clarkson – Chemistry

