Bio

Jennifer Smith-Mayo is a professional photographer and co-author with her husband, writer Matthew P. Mayo, of the  books Maine Icons: 50 Classic Symbols of the Pine Tree State, New Hampshire Icons: 50 Classic Symbols of the Granite State, and Vermont Icons: 50 Classic Symbols of the Green Mountain State.

Jennifer also photographed the cookbook, Maine Home Cooking, written by Sandra Oliver, the Fairy Garden Handbook by Liza Gardner Walsh, Treasure Hunter’s Handbook by Liza Gardner Walsh, 2015 Fairy Houses Calendar, and the 2014 Fairy Gardens Calendar.

Treasure Hunter's Handbook

Treasure Hunter’s Handbook

Jennifer specializes in photography of fine dining, rural living, and farming. Her extensive portfolio also includes images of England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, agriculture in New England, small town life in Maine, and many more subjects.

Jennifer’s photography is regularly featured in Down East Magazine. Her work has also appeared in GQThe New York Times, ViceNational Geographic, Wine Spectator, Mother Earth News, Yankee Magazine, Big Sky Journal, Western Art & ArchitectureThe Dalesman Magazine, DK Books Eyewitness Travel Guide Dublin and Maine 24/7, Globe Pequot Insiders’ Guide Series, Express Westerns’ Where Legends Ride, Farmworker Justice, Fly Rod & Reel, Shooting Sportsman, Inner Tapestry, New England Farmer, as well as in various newspapers and advertising campaigns. Her photographs have been selected for a variety of juried exhibitions and her solo shows include Kelmscott (Rare Breeds) Farm: Through the Seasons; Futzing with Focus: Images in Motion; Learning to Grow: In the Garden with Troy Howard Middle School, Belfast, Maine; and Growing Local: Wild Maine Blueberry Muffins. Her photographs are in private collections all over North America.

Recent projects include launching the new documentary series Growing Local, which seeks to create awareness across cultures of the importance of using local foods. Jennifer created the series to examine traditional but popular regional recipes and to adapt them for use with only local ingredients. Each episode of the series documents—through still photography, ambient sound, and audio interviews—not only the creation of the adapted recipe, but also traces the ingredients’ origins and researches the current status of the region’s local food movement.

Jennifer graduated with a B.A. in Communications with an Emphasis in Photography from Goucher College, Towson, Maryland. She holds a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies with a Concentration in New Media through the University of Maine in Orono and is an adjunct instructor for the University of Maine. She also teaches digital photography workshops for Senior College at the Hutchinson Center and Jen’s Digi-Photo Workshops. Jennifer began her teaching career as a digital photography instructor with Adult Education programs in Vermont and Maine. During December 2007 and February 2008, Jennifer’s Ellsworth Adult education students hosted two exhibitions of work, Local Visions, at the Riverside Cafe and the Ellsworth Public Library in Ellsworth, Maine. Jennifer is a former instructor for the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland, Maine.

In 2011, Jennifer worked with worked with Loyola Productions Inc., as a videographer for two Telly Award-winning documentaries profiling the 2011 Opus Prize Winners. She traveled with the LPI crew to Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa to document the organization, Heal Africa. The crew then traveled to Filadelfia, Brazil to document the agricultural cooperative, Association of Small Rural Producers of Jacare.

Matthew and Jennifer also are the founders of Gritty Press and Keep it Gritty™ gear. In the pages of Gritty Press’ books you’ll find heavy doses of action, self-reliance, steel nerves, sheer terror, resolve in the face of unbeatable odds, stories that quicken the pulse and stir a grim smile, the sort of smile that happens just before something happens….

Jennifer has worked in nearly all aspects of her degree: photography, film (including Hidden Treasures of the Jesuits, The Crow and Where the Rivers Flow North), television, electronic publishing, web design, graphic design, newspaper, and radio.

 

Throughout the years, her passion for taking photographs has never wavered. “Photography,” she says, “makes me tick. It gets me out of a comfortable bed in the wee hours of the night to shoot.”

Jennifer and Matthew along with Guy and their Tiger Adventure Vehicle, make up Team Gritty. They rove the USA in search of high adventure, hot coffee, and tasty whisky! Follow Team Gritty’s latest adventures at their blog, Trail Dust.