Les Schmidt was born and raised in the Northeast, where frequent family trips to the shore and through farm country served as early influences.
New York City, with its grand architecture and gritty atmosphere, was also a travel destination and source of inspiration. He moved to New Orleans in the early 1980s, where he became stimulated by the city's rich history of writers, artists and unique personalities, its Old World architecture, and its famous waterways.
Enamored with every thing the city had to offer, he didn't start shooting until reaching his early 40s, when asked to style photo shoots for a local modern architect, and became captivated by the art and process of photography.
Les received his first 35mm camera and immediately enrolled in the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts.
After two semesters in the school and twice winning the Owen Murphy Faculty Award for Photography, he was offered his first exhibition at Soren Christensen Gallery in New Orleans.
Schmidt primarily captures austere, coastal landscapes, but has recently developed a body of work focused on still life, as seen in the 2015 exhibition Dorothy Jean at Guy Lyman Fine Art in New Orleans.
His work has been shown in New Orleans, LA; Monroe, LA; Lafayette, LA; Breaux Bridge, LA; Grand Isle, LA; Seaside, FL; Naples, FL; Cape Girardeau, MO; Johnson City, TX; Minneapolis, MN; Essex Junction, VT and Portland, OR.
His photographs have also been used in the 2013 film Ender's Game, in the January 2012 issue of IQ Magazine, and in a Chrysler commercial starring Clint Eastwood, which premiered at halftime during Super Bowl XLVI.
His work has been reviewed in Art Voices (Issue 21, 2009) and Pelican Bomb (November 2015).
