Karen Smith is an award winning photographer who began her photojournalism career over forty years ago. She began her first official assignment with the United States Army Newspaper, “Tropic Times” where her assignment was shooting all the sports events (basketball, soccer, football, racing, volleyball, tennis, golf, weight lifting, swimming), special events, recognition and award ceremonies, chapel activities, and promotion events on and off base in Central America.

While living overseas, her love for the environment sparked an interest and desire in doing landscape, animal and nature photography. She has traveled to many parts of the USA, Central America and the Caribbean to photography the elements of the environment. She has won numerous awards for her landscape photography and has been recognized in the community for her ongoing work in the art field. Karen shoots with both a manual and digital single lens reflex in color and black and white. Her work has been purchased at various art shows as well as by collectors, friends, and family members.

Karen has written and photographed for many local, regional and national publications.  She has photographed and interviewed many local, national, and international renowned persons over the years: Johnny Conchran, Iman, Spike Lee, Gordon Parks, Bernard Harris, Jasmine Guy, Bill Dukes, Walter Mosley, Common and many others during her tenure as a photojournalist. Karen has curated the Lenora Rolla Heritage Center Museum juried art shows from 2014-2025,  in which over 300 minority adult and youth artists have participated in art show competitions. Karen has juried several other competitions at the grade school, high school, college, and adult levels.

Karen has designed several book covers using her photographs and is currently working on a pictorial book that will include some of her over 80,000 photographs she has in her digital library gallery.