Story 33 | Nature Photographer

Adam Smith (@roadlyfe)

"I never knew who it was that I was supposed to be until I removed the clutter of who everyone thought that I should be."

Adam Smith grew up in a big, Mid-western family that didn't have a ton of resources.  He spent most of his young adult life working to try and make up for what he felt his life had lacked.  He worked hard and built an art gallery business in Lawrence, Kansas, met a woman, and moved west to Washington to start a new life.  Only, things didn't go as planned.  Adam realized that he had been working his life away in vain, seeking to fill a perceived void with material things which really just added weight instead of the depth that he had hoped for.  Unfulfilled, he decided to reform his life so he could live his wild dream.

For the past three years Adam has been traveling/living/working full-time in his custom 4x4 Chinook.  He purchased the Chinook from a Canadian nature photographer that was featured in his art gallery back in Kansas.  Now Adam pushes himself to make a living as an adventure writer and photo essayist.  He travels with clothes, food, camera/computer equipment and comic books--and he has never been happier.  Simplifying his life has afforded him the insight to discover who he truly is. 

Adam is not in Kansas anymore.  Nowadays he concentrates his time (and his photography) on the American west, spending his winters traversing the deserts of Utah, Arizona, and California and his summers in Vancouver island.  Recently he has visited Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and spent a month exploring Alberta, Canada.  Seeking natural beauty in the great outdoors has brought his life both purpose and fulfillment.  From behind his camera lens he is perpetually filled with a sense of wonderment and gratitude.

Adam believes that modern culture has caused humanity to lose touch with its Natural roots, and he hopes that his photography will help to rekindle those roots.

To learn more about how Adam Smith reformed his life go to: (@roadlyfe)