Today we’d like to introduce you to Zachary Smith.
Hi Zachary, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
In 2019, while living in Atlanta I decided to embark on a creative adventure with one rule: the only money I could make was from creative ventures. I was teaching myself video editing and was starting my journey as a contractor that was paid to shoot everything from music videos to basketball tournaments. Acting, writing, and shooting shorts with friends led to me entering into a short film competition with a film that I wrote, produced, acted in, scored, and assisted in editing. When the film won the competition, it was shown in Los Angeles and I traveled there to screen it. I fell in love with the energy of the city and went in search of a mentor to help me become a master of visuals. I was fortunate enough to be brought to Bjoern Kommerell, one of the most brilliant photographers I’ve ever seen. He is a true master of cinematic portraiture and took me under his wing for a true apprenticeship. He engrained his style into me, leaving me room to also take the style and grow in my own way. Bjoern retired in 2022 and on Halloween of that year, Zenematic LLC was born. Now I’ve been shooting in multiple cities from coast to coast and have even started shooting in other countries as I travel.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
A road that is smooth has been paved before, and I typically like to take the roads less traveled. I wanted to structure Zenematic in a way that provides balance to both the clients and our photographers. Instead of having a brick-and-mortar studio, we rent different studios and bring our cinematic lighting. It allows us to work in different environments with different elements that we like to play with in our portraits. For instance, when I traveled to New York for a week of sessions, the studio I rented had a subway train that rode past our large windows and allowed for some really cool shots with one of our clients. Producing a photography event where we shoot for a week in a city comes with all the challenges you’d expect, but through planning and backup plans, challenges become wisdom and the real challenge becomes “How can I make this look cooler than last time?”. Having an apprentice (Tim) also comes with its own challenges, because I constantly reflect on what I’m teaching him and also consciously make sure to incorporate lessons into my work to be an example for him. My goal is to make him as independent as possible so he has all the tools to run his own business in the way he wants. These are all the types of challenges that make it feel fun to come to work and I believe that energy rubs off on those that shoot with us.
We’ve been impressed with Zenematic, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Zenematic is a photography business that brings a cinematic style to our photos, whether they are for advertising, headshots, lifestyle photos, events, or even moments you’d like to capture (i.e. your first space tour).
The philosophy of Zenematic is one of balance and intention, with every step of the process flowing into the next. We believe in connecting and communicating with our clients, discussing what intention they’d love their photo to have. If you are an actor and you’d like to get booked in the next John Wick film, we shoot you in the style of that film so when the casting director sees it, their first thought is that you belong in their project. We assist you in defining your looks and making sure that what you wear would easily be on the poster for the project you want to be cast in.
I travel Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta to provide this service, with aims to increase our street and international portfolio. The other photographer on the team, Tim Coto, is Los Angeles based, also trained by Bjoern Kommerell, and specializes in applying our cinematic style to outdoor and event photography in addition to his stellar cinematic studio shoots.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Growing up I was always curious. I loved inventing things and creating, which led me down two different paths. I loved arts: acting, poetry, music, photography, and videography. I was fortunate to have my aunt Carolyn that is a photographer and videographer and she would bring me onto projects to edit music videos for artists and do photography events when I was 12.
My education was a bit different than others, as I was homeschooled for about 5 years of my life and during that time I did a lot of art and focused alot on writing, then from 7th to 9th grade, I started public school again. When I turned 16 I started college at Augusta Technical College for Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology and focused on inventing again. I got my degree at 17, then when I turned 18 I moved to Atlanta to pursue my bachelor’s. It was there that I started applying my engineering skills to my art and music, and started producing music. It felt natural to learn how to layer sounds from my experience in video editing with my aunt, and the frequencies made sense from my electrical engineering studies. I appreciate having so many positive influences growing up, from my parents who taught me to ask the right questions and learn independently, to my Aunt Carolyn for teaching me how to mix art and business, to Bjoern Kommerell who taught me how to express myself through my camera and to never stop inventing.
Pricing:
- One Look (One outfit, Min. 40 edited photos*, ~100 outtakes) – $375
- Two Looks (Two outfits, Min. 60 edited photos, ~150 outtakes)- $550
- Three Looks (Three outfits, Min. 80 edited photos, ~200 outtakes) – $700
- Four Looks (Four outfits, Min. 100 edited photos, ~200 outtakes) – $850
- Street Shoots – Starting at $250 for 30 minutes (Minimum 15 edited photos, 75-100 outtakes)
Contact Info:
- Website: Zenematic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zacharyismith/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zacharyismith
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2jyEZZBUsSO7Zx4CrqyY7A
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ok_zero
Image Credits
Photo of Zachary by Timothy Coto (@photosbytimco) All other photos taken by Zachary Smith: Stefanie Schmidt/Thailand (@Schmankyvegan) Hajar Jelil & Tina Balthazar/Berlin (@hajarjelil @tinabalthazar Victor Love/Atlanta (@_victorlove_) Donny Burke/ New York (@donnyburke_) Tug Coker/ Los Angeles (@tugcoker) Iziah Smith/Art Piece by Zachary
