Tiffany R. Smith (b. 1990, Dayton Ohio) is a photographer, scholar, and storyteller based in Philadelphia. Her work traces the complexity of quotidian Black life, illuminating how images shape memory, visibility, and notions of belonging. Working across documentary, editorial, and conceptual forms, she creates and studies how photography can both archive and liberate the lived experiences of diasporic communities.

Rooted in the traditions of Black visuality and decolonial thought, Tiffany’s practice blends academic rigor with aesthetic intention. As a doctoral candidate in media and public affairs, her research interrogates the colonial legacies of photography and examines how visual narratives influence public understanding of Black identity and social life.

On the street, in the studio, and through her written reflections, Tiffany approaches image-making as both fieldwork and meditation: a way of thinking with light, gesture, and truth. Her work draws inspiration from thinkers like bell hooks and Tina Campt, exploring how photography can become a practice of care, resistance, and reimagination.

Her ongoing projects document Philadelphia’s creative and cultural ecosystems while engaging broader dialogues about representation and power. Through photographs, moving images, and visual essays, she creates a body of work that is attentive to the sacred, the ordinary, and the enduring grace of daily Black life.