Amanda Smith has exhibited nationally for more than three decades, and as founder of A Smith Gallery she has played a central role in establishing Johnson City as a destination for contemporary art.

Smith traces her interest in photography to a discovery among her parents' belongings: a letter her father wrote to Santa Claus at age eight, asking for a fishing pole and a Kodak camera. For years she photographed simply to record her surroundings. After moving to Austin in the early 1990s, she joined a group of photographers committed to making art rather than documentation, and began working in the darkroom. She soon began exhibiting in juried and invitational exhibitions across the country, and her work is now held in public and private collections.

About ten years ago, Smith moved her practice from the darkroom to digital capture, working primarily with an iPhone camera. Her process remains hands-on: she incorporates encaustic and, most recently, gilds images printed on Japanese kozo paper. Experimentation continues to drive her work.

In 2010, Smith opened A Smith Gallery in Johnson City to exhibit her own work and that of other photographers through juried exhibitions. With Kevin Tully joining as partner, the gallery became one of eight in the downtown arts district and operated its physical space for twelve years before moving online in 2023. Smith's recent honors include recognition in the Julia Margaret Cameron Awards and the Black and White Spider Awards, and her work is held in the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University.