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oceania issue 1020

Jun 2026

Andreas Smetana

Sydney - Advertising Photographers, Directors & DOPs

"I’m a photographer, director, and DOP, working across commercial campaigns for the last 25 years.

I like getting under the skin of a brief — talking it through, pulling it apart, pushing it visually, and finding an edge or tone that makes it feel specific. I try not to have a fixed style; it’s about finding the right tone and flavour for each job. I move between stills and film, large technical productions, performance driven work, casting, studio and location shoots, as well as smaller projects. Frankly, I just love working.

I started out in Austria with a small studio in Innsbruck, shooting mostly tourism and advertising. In my mid-twenties I moved to Australia, and I’ve never really done anything else—aside from being a husband, father, and sailor. Arriving with limited English taught me to listen, shaping a focused, considered approach grounded in understanding what a project wants to say before I put a camera on it.

I’ve always embraced new technologies, but in a world flooded with images, work only holds if it feels real—weighty, honest, and authentic. I am also the founder of Flint, a production company that shaped much of my working life."