Sheila Smith’s first camera was a Brownie box camera. In the sixties, as a secretary to the creative director of Columbia Records, Smith was exposed to and inspired by the great photographers of that era. She went on to study advertising and design at SVA, ultimately becoming an Art Director and continuing to work with top photographers, including Richard Avedon. She studied photography at the New School while at the same time taking drawing and painting classes at the Art Students League. Painting for many years, she never abandoned photography and has continued to take pictures since 1997. Now, her photographs have become paintings as she alters and reconstructs them in photoshop. About her work Smith says, “I enjoy photographing a multitude of subjects which categorizes me as a “generalist."