Edwin George Herbert Smith [commonly known as Edwin Smith] was born in Canonbury, London, England on 15 May 1912 and studied building crafts and architecture at the Northern Polytechnic in London from c.1924 to 1930 when he was awarded a scholarship to the Architectural Association in London. For financial reasons he left the AA after two years and was employed an architectural draughtsman for several architects in the offices of Marshall Sisson.
From 1935 he worked as a freelance photographer specialising in landscapes, gardens and architectural subjects. In the 1939 England and Wales Register he gave as his occupation Trained and qualified architect working as an Artist and Photographer [for an] advertising agency. Although he stated that he was a qualified architect, Smith is not listed in the RIBA Kalendar for 1939-40 and is not known to have designed any buildings.
During his career as a photographer Smith published over thirty books of his photographs of buildings, gardens, and landscape, and a further four were published posthumously. In 1954 Smith married the writer and artist Olive Cook (1912-2002) with whom he sometimes collaborated. He died at his home, the Coach House, Windmill Hill, Saffron Walden, Essex on 29 December 1971
Edwin Smith photographs, 1935–1971. Introduction by Olive Cook. London: Thames & Hudson 1984
Vaizey, Marina. ‘Edwin Smith’, Edited by Colin Naylor, Chicago: St James Press, 1988