Michael Kirby Smith is an Emmy-winning filmmaker and photographer. He has worked extensively for the New York Times as a photographer and senior video journalist and as a director of photography on feature and episodic films for documentary and commercial clients. His photography has been published by the New York Times, National Geographic magazine, TIME, FADER, Bloomberg Businessweek, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among others. He has worked as a director and director of photography for the New Yorker, PBS, PBS Frontline, National Geographic Explorer, Rolling Stone, Netflix, Vice, and Human Rights Watch. His first feature film, Newtok, was acquired by Patagonia Films and released in 2022. [FiRe Note: Newtok has been selected as the FiRe 2023 Featured Film.]

Michael's film and photography work has been recognized by the Emmy Awards (2021), the Sundance Institute (grantee, 2019), American Photography (2019), the Jonathan Logan Foundation (grantee, 2017 & 2018), the Fund for Investigative Journalism (grantee, 2016), the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting (grantee, 2014), the City of New York (2012), and the World Press Joop Swart Masterclass (nominee, 2012).

Michael's work and artist collaborations have been exhibited at the Tate Modern, Greene Naftali, the Museum of the City of New York, the Blanton Museum of Art, and the Arsenal Gallery. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in studio art, focusing on photography and video art.