Lauren Smith oversees photography and video for the University of West Florida’s Marketing & Creative Services Department. In her spare time, she explores her hometown while planning her next big travel adventure. Self-taught, she started taking photos with her iPhone and hasn’t stopped. In fact, she prefers to shoot with her iPhone. Photojournalist Ben Lowy sums up her take on iPhone photography: "it was anonymous, it wasn’t particularly heavy, it didn’t get in the way of being intimate with a potential subject. And it was fast, I could just pull the phone out of my pocket and take a picture as things were happening in front of me."

Prior to working for UWF, Smith worked for Pensacola Opera. In 2010, she was recognized by the Independent News as a part of their prestigious “Rising Star” list. Instagram handle: midgeco99. Instagram link: http://instagram.com/midgeco99#