Maine-native Carter Smith began his career in the world of fashion photography. His breakthrough story included a series of gritty, documentary-style portraits of teen life in the Midwest, which appeared in the British magazine ID. His fashion work and celebrity portraits have been featured in The New York Times Magazine, Vogue, GQ, and W, all photographed in the cinematic style that has become Carter's signature. He collaborated with author Dennis Cooper on a feature film script titled Warm, which wad developed at the Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab.