Check Out Dionna Smith’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dionna Smith.

Hi Dionna, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Wow, as I reflect on where I am today and how it all started, it has been a long journey. It all began with purchasing my first camera, a Canon T2i, in 2012. Now that I think about it, it’s crazy that I financed that camera with a credit card because I didn’t have the money for a $900 photographic tool. On the contrary, it didn’t matter because my passion for photography was strong enough to take the risk and invest in myself.

After that, I started a photography company named Fake Los Angeles Photography and designed collections of t-shirts to promote the brand. Fake Los Angeles began to catch on amongst my hometown community, Compton, CA, and neighboring cities. Local businesses, brands, and rappers began hiring me for photography services. While running Fake Los Angeles Photography, a long-time friend, Eric Daniel, was doing videography and creating t-shirts and hoodies to promote their brand LVL HEADZ. I noticed that the clients around town I was working with needed video services, so Eric and I started a company named UNDRGRND MVMNT, where we collaborated on projects and created posters and stickers to market our brand. Fake Los Angeles and UNDRGRND MVMNT lasted for a few years until 2016.

In 2016 something inside me felt like there could be more as if I was hitting a glass ceiling. At that moment in time, I decided to embark on expanding my knowledge as a self-taught photographer into a trained professional. I enrolled in the commercial photography program at The Arts Institutes of California Orange County. During my time there, I learned new techniques and business skills. After two years, I completed the program and graduated with an associate’s degree in photography. Thirsty for knowledge at the time, I enrolled in the bachelor’s program. Unfortunately, before completing the bachelor’s program, The Art Institutes of California shut down in my last year due to mishandling of funds. I was devastated and did not know what to do from there.

While thinking of my next move, I realized that I could not let that stop me from achieving my goals/desires and began searching for another art school to finish my bachelor’s degree. In the Fall of 2019, I started at Otis College of Art and Design, majoring in Fine Arts with an entrepreneurship minor.

I’m a 2022 graduate, working artist, and business owner. Fast-forward to now. I graduated from Otis College of Art and Design spring of 2022. Currently running a creative consulting business named Thee Smithington while maintaining an art practice.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
A smooth road, no way I wish, but I wouldn’t change anything because it has shaped myself and my career for the good.

The two main struggles were time management and progressing as a person. While going to college, I had a part-time job and was building my business in the background of it all. So time was very tight for me; managing that time was a learning process full of sacrifices. As far as my progress, the personal growth I was experiencing became unrecognizable at times because I was becoming something no one around me understood, which led to the loss of friendships. The sacrifices I had to face on this journey have been struggles in a sense to stop the progress, but I kept going.

Another struggle that I faced while pressuring a degree in higher education was the feeling of not belonging. It was daunting because I sought knowledge to better my situation and family; however, it wasn’t many who looked like me in that environment. Macro aggressions and microaggressions faced along the way provoked discouragement, but what’s a small thing to a giant, so I pushed through it all.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As an artist, I utilize photography to document daily life experiences captured or appropriated from a moment in time through past and present surroundings. My work is a hybrid between discovery and enlightenment sophisticatedly presented through portraits and landscapes. I am often questioning the complexities of existence and being. While most recently diving into writing, intersecting cultural subject matters with existential questioning.

To go along with the constant investigation, the gesture of image and text engages viewers consciously, intending to shift perspectives and spaces.

As a creative business owner, Thee Smithington is an artist-led creative consultant company building equity for artists and businesses as a creative business owner. We work with companies and individuals interested in creative direction and unique start-ups, branding, networking, and marketing techniques. Thee Smithington is also an artist platform that collaborates with other creatives to develop timeless works of art to share with the world.

What you put into the universe is what you get out. Creating something physical with an eternal existence motivates me as an artist and business owner. I would say that’s what I’m most proud of the ability to create whatever is in my mind as a real object.

What sets me apart from others is me just being myself because no one like me on this earth. All my ideas and creations are inspirationally original. As I use the world and my life experiences as a foundation for whatever I do.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Two critical lessons happened to me during the Covid-19 crisis. One is how important self-love and self-care are to enjoy a happy, fulfilling life. The second thing is the significance of family. Covid-19 taught me how to live as a loving and healthy human being.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dionnasharaysmith.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theephotosmith/
• Other: https://www.theesmithington.com/home-1, https://www.instagram.com/theesmithington/

Image Credits:
Personal photo by James Porschen, all other photos by Dionna Sharay Smith