Joe P. Smith FMIPP FMPA FBIPP FSWPP ARPS AFIAP Dip. Artistic Management (University of Perugia).

Joe P. Smith is a photographer and artist absorbed in an artistic quest that comprises photography, the graphic media and painting.

Joe studied art and design in Malta and Florence, Italy where he was awarded scholarship in graphic design in1983.

He has been in photography since 1979. He is a member of the Malta Photographic Society of which he won the coveted Photographer of the Year Award in 1995, and also a Fellow of the Malta Institute of Professional Photographers. He is often called upon by both organisations to judge competitions and give lectures. In 1995 he was made Associate of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain and later Artist of the International Federation of Photographic Art. In 2001 he was the first and only Maltese photographer to achieve Fellowship status of the Malta Institute of Professional Photographers. In 2004 he was also made Fellow of the Master Photographers Association of the UK and in 2005 he was also bestowed with the highest distinction of Fellow of the British Institute of Professional Photography. In 2006 he achieved Fellowship status of the FSWPP & BPPA.

Joe has been responsible for the design of various logos of established companies, brochures, packaging, CD sleeves and postage stamps.

His preference is for monochrome photography especially that depicting the performing arts and his name has become synonymous with pictures of Jazz musicians who performed in the Malta Jazz Festival of which he has been the official photographer since the first edition in 1991. Many of his Jazz pictures can be found on the websites of renowned musicians who played in the Festival. Environmental portraiture and social documentary are also two fields that Joe specialises in.

Last year Joe made headlines when he was awarded the overall prize in a EU-wide photo contest with the theme of Cultures on my Street to commemorate the Year of Intercultural Dialogue.

Joe has exhibited extensively in both media locally as well as overseas and has been the recipient of numerous national and international awards. For the last 4 years, he has also delivered masterclasses for SWPP during the annual Convention and also in Dublin.