Bio





Sharon Smith is a fine art portrait photographer based in Ashford, Co. Wicklow. Her work explores authenticity, visibility, and the lived experience of womanhood, creating portraits that challenge societal ideals and reveal the inherent beauty of the 'ordinary'. Exhibited internationally, her practice invites both sitter and viewer to recognise their own resilience, worth, and truth.

Exhibitions

Solo Shows

In_Visibility Project Exhibition, [Wicklow Town], [Feb 2025]

Signal Arts Bray, forthcoming 2026

Group Shows

  • RHA Annual Exhibition, [Dublin], 2025

  • Women in Art Fair, [London], [Jun 2025 & Oct 2024]

  • Outset Gallery Christmas Show, [Galway], [Dec 2024]

  • The South West Academy Annual Open Exhibition, [Sidmouth], [Nov 2024]

  • Now & Then, [VAS], [Edinburgh], [Aug 2024]

Awards & Recognition

  • Longlisted Women in Art Prize 2025

  • Finalist Portrait Photographer of the Year 2024,  IPPVA

Professional Experience

  • Artist | Self-Employed | [3 Years Active]
  • Creative Headshot Photographer | Self-Employed | [ 7 Years Active]
  • Family Portrait Photographer | Self-Employed | [7 Years Active]

Workshops & Community Engagement

  • International Women's Day 2025 - photography project with Wicklow County Partnership & Rathnew Womens Social Inclusion Network - public exhibition of portraits.
  • Planned community project with Arklow Women's Shed 2025 culminating in public exhibition
  • Volunteer Photographer with Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep [NILMDTS], a charity providing remembrance photography to parents experiencing the death of a baby.


Certifications

  • Licentiateship Irish Professional Photographer & Videographer Association
  • PgCert Therapeutic Photography ℅ Neil Gibson, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen
  • European Certificate in Essential Palliative Care, Milford Hospice, Limerick
  • Professional Certificate in Life Coaching, College of Management & IT
  • Diploma in Humanistic & Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy, Tivoli Institute
  • Higher Diploma in Oncological Nursing, UCD
  • Registered General Nurse, Adelaide Hospital, Dublin


Skills

Fine Art Photography | Trauma-Informed Practices | Photo-editing | Studio and Natural Light

Photography | Project Management


References

Available upon request.