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.

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