Studióski was founded by Shaun Smith in 2001. Born in the early 80’s in East London in the Eastern Cape, Shaun’s interest in photography was sparked by his parents’ "mik-en-druk" (point-and-shoot) camera which operated with film in the form of a cartridge. The camera boasted a disposable flash in the form of a little square box which was mounted on top of the camera and could only fire four times before it had to be disposed of.

Shaun’s first photography experience was at the tender age of eight years old when he photographed his four year old sister as she posed for the photograph, flaunting a striking pink outfit, whilst sitting on an old reed chair. After what felt like a lifetime of waiting for the film to be developed, Shaun finally received the photograph from the photo-lab and was met with an underwhelming realisation that the photograph was blurry. This specific event sparked Shaun’s passion for photography as he excitedly undertook to research the underlying techniques behind photography in order to better each photograph he took thereafter.

During Shaun’s high school career he was actively involved in his school newspaper as the editor thereof. This furthered Shaun’s passion for photography and led him to dabble in amateur journalistic photography. In his matric year, Die Burger – a well-known Afrikaans newspaper in the Eastern Cape – approached Shaun to act as a freelance photographer in East London and surrounding areas. Shaun acted as a freelance photographer for a period of approximately five years.

In 2005 Shaun relocated to Johannesburg, South Africa and commenced his commercial photography career. Since his relocation, Shaun has worked with various clients in the commercial sphere including: Christian Dior, Clicks, Agri-SETA, Aon, The Boston Consulting Group, Romans Pizza, The Glam Guru (Hannon), L’Oréal Paris, Dial-a-Bed, Tile Africa, The Document Warehouse, Hisense, Tempest Car Hire, Nedbank, Glad, Clover, Knorr, Potato South Africa, Media24 and Caxton Magazines to mention but a few.

During Shaun's tenure in Gauteng, he has established himself as a prominent photography figure who specialises in innovative commercial photography, food photography, and product photography, as well as corporate videography, corporate headshots, fashion and beauty.