Sharon Smith is a contemporary photographic artist whose work explores themes of authenticity and visibility within the lived experience of womanhood. Creating a safe and nurturing space, Sharon works in a deeply collaborative manner, moving away from rigid, traditional portrait conventions and encouraging her subjects to shed both literal and metaphorical masks.

Sharon's practice is rooted in navigating the highly conservative and misogynistic culture she experienced growing up female in pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland. Her work explores how societal expectations– particularly within this patriarchal Western culture – shape women's lives from youth, through motherhood and beyond menopause. Long fascinated with the question of Who Gets to be Seen? andcoupled with the pressures placed on women in regard to self image, Sharon's practice examines themes of visibility and authentic self expression through sensitive and intimate portraiture.

Informed by her background in both nursing and psychotherapy, Sharon adopts a non-judgemental, trauma informed process, bringing an acutely empathetic approach to her practice which celebrates unfiltered self-expression, resilience and reclamation of the self. Nurturing strict boundaries she creates a safe space which results in a profound and respectful exchange between artist and subject: an intimacy that is evident in the sensitivity and presence within her work.

Selected for Dublin's prestigious RHA Annual Open in both 2025 and 2026, Sharon's work has also been included in several international group shows including London's Women in Art Fair, (2024 and 2025) and Visual Arts Scotland's Biennial Show (2024) amongst many others. She has held two well received solo shows in Wicklow Town Library in 2025 and 2026 and is looking forward to her upcoming solo show in Signal Arts Gallery, Bray, Co. Wicklow in June 2026. Accepted for a residency in the Tyrone Guthrie Centre later this year Sharon is looking forward to the opportunity to deepen her research and expand her practice.