About
I’m Auggie Smith, a high school photographer based in Oak Park, Illinois, just outside Chicago. I picked up my first camera a couple of years ago and haven’t put it down since.
Chicago gives me an endless canvas — the architecture, the lakefront, the neighborhoods, the people. Oak Park adds a quieter counterpoint: tree-lined streets, Frank Lloyd Wright rooflines, and the kind of everyday moments that are easy to walk past if you’re not paying attention. I’m still learning how to see, and that’s the part I love most.
Right now I’m especially interested in macro work — getting close enough to a subject that the familiar becomes strange. I’m also drawn to wide environmental shots that put a person or object in context with the world around it. Both feel like opposite ends of the same question: how much do you show, and how much do you leave out?
Milestones
- 2025 — Oak Park Township Youth Arts Showcase — Photography category
- 2025 — Oak Park & River Forest High School Photography Club — member
- 2024 — Chicago Botanic Garden student photo walk — selected participant
- 2024 — First macro series — “Close” — shared on Instagram
Approach
I shoot mostly natural light. I’m still figuring out my editing style, but I tend to pull back on heavy processing — I’d rather the image look like something that actually happened. The best photos I’ve taken were accidents I almost deleted.
Equipment
- Fujifilm X-T5
- Canon EOS R50
- Macro lens — for close-up and detail work
- Wide angle lens — for architecture, landscapes, and environmental portraits