BRAD SMITH

Photo Editor / Vice President for Photography for the WWE

Brad Smith is an award-winning photo editor with over 35 years of experience in visual storytelling. He’s worked in the sports industry as Director of Photography at Time Inc. Sports Publications, twice garnering Sports Illustrated the Henry Luce Award for Magazine Cover of the Year, and as Senior Sports Photo Editor at The New York Times, receiving First Place in Photo Editing for Picture of the Year (POY) on several occasions. He’s managed live edits for some of the most visually stimulating sports events in the world, coordinating and editing photography for numerous Olympics, Super Bowls, World Series, and Final Fours. He has also delivered historical presidential moments as the Associate Director of Photography for the White House during the Clinton administration, and covered events with unparalleled import, such as 9/11. Currently he’s the Vice President for Photography for the WWE, a massive entertainment company, overseeing the global photography division.

As a consultant, Smith has worked with a wide variety of clients. He created the Photo Division for the XFL on behalf of the league, securing a network of photographers for each team and establishing digital fee structures, XFL photo contracts, and working templates for each team. He also assisted in negotiating XFL’s syndication agreement with Getty Images and continued to act as primary consultant for all still visuals related to the league. Additionally, Smith has been a consultant to the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar, creating a template that developed an infrastructure for a national database of sports photographers, as well as a consultant to Sony, assisting their effort to increase their market share of United States sports photographers.

Smith is an actively supportive member of the photography community. He’s on the Advisory Board at Photo Start, a Kenya-based nonprofit team of photographers, artists, and teachers who provide opportunities for impoverished youth, and he’s on the Creative Board at NYC Salt, an organization that empowers underserved NYC youth through photography, videos, and exposure to the visual industry. Formerly, Smith served on the Board of Directors for the National Press Photographers Association, today’s leading advocacy for visual journalists, and the renowned photojournalism seminar, The Eddie Adams Workshop.

He is on the faculty at FOTOfusion at Palm Beach Photographic Centre, Summit Workshops held in various locations worldwide, and the annual Southeastern Photojournalism Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.