Smith, Merrett, 1926-
Dates
- Existence: 1926-
Biographical History
Merrett Smith (1926-) was an American portrait photographer most famous for being the official photographer for President Richard Nixon.
Merrett Smith was born in May 14, 1926 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He went to high school in Provo, Utah where Merrett volunteered to be the schools photographer. Due to the vast amout of photographs that needed to be taken and retouched, he asked Gail Abel to help him. After high school he went into the Navy and was assinged to the photo lab where he learned and perfected his photography skills. He and Gail were married shortly after he completed bootcamp. They eventually moved to Salt Lake City and Merrett was asked to take the picture of David O. McKay (the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and this led him to became the official photogapher for two Utah Governors. He eventually became the offical portraitist for President Richard Nixon, and Governor Ronald Reagan. In 1969 he recieved his Masters Degree in photography and he moved his studio to Century City, California by the encouragement of Art Linkletter. In in Century City Studio be took many portraits of actors and actresses. He also took portraits at Osmond Studios in Orem, Utah during the late 1970's and 1980's of the guest stars of the "Donny and Marie" show. He taught at many symposiums unually on new portrait techniques. He invented a press that texturized photographs. He became the president of the Professional Photographers West (PPW) circa 1973, along with being a member of the very prestigious association: Camera Craftsmen of America.