Talk with Georgia Glynn Smith

You’ve had a multifaceted creative career spanning different fields. Could you tell us a bit about that journey ?

Without a doubt, it’s been a varied path, and it continues to evolve. To give you a brief overview, my parents were both designers, involved in interiors and graphics. They worked with Terence Conran and even collaborated with legends like Charles and Ray Eames. That creative environment was my childhood backdrop, so I grew up immersed in design, constantly surrounded by that aesthetic sensibility. I went to creative schools, eventually studying at Saint Martin’s, where I initially wanted to be a painter. But after my mother passed away, I had to think practically about how to make a living. That’s when I shifted gears toward interior design, studying at Kingston and later working as a designer in New York.

It sounds like you made some significant transitions throughout your career. How did you shift from interior design to photography?

It was actually quite random! I returned to the UK for health reasons and ended up interning at Elle Decoration. I started pitching ideas, and when one of my ideas was accepted, the editor asked if I could photograph it myself. At the time, I wasn’t a photographer but I gave it a shot, and that’s how my photography career began.

How did you venture into food photography ?

Later Nigel Slater saw some of my work and approached me. At the time, I wasn’t familiar with him, but he asked me to photograph one of his books. Because food photography wasn’t really my world, I approached it differently—very naturally, without the polished, highly staged aesthetic that was typical then. The result was a real, relatable feel, and the book won numerous awards. After that, I became known as a food photographer, and I spent the next decade travelling the world, shooting for chefs, magazines, and publishers and wine journalists. It was an amazing time—being sent to places like Thailand to capture food stories.

You bought a home for your family in Languedoc, what made you choose this region?

It's an emotional story for me. My mother passed away when I was 16, and my father moved down to the Languedoc area, specifically Pézenas, with his new wife, and they had more kids. I was feeling a bit lost and wanted to keep some sort of family home where my brother, sister, and I could come together—to create that family connection.

So, does that mean you now have a special connection with Languedoc wines ?

Oh, I’m a huge fan of Languedoc wine! I’ve become a bit of a promoter for it, to be honest. What really excites me is that there’s a new wave of winemakers coming into the Languedoc, many of them women and young talents from all over the world. They’re bringing fresh ideas, breaking rules and creating some extraordinary wines. The terroir, the wind, the soil, and the climate in Languedoc allow for lots of innovation. I’m always talking about Languedoc as a region worth watching.

How did your photography project with Languedoc AOC come about?

Oh, that was a funny story! At the time, I had sold all my camera gear because I was running low on funds after COVID, so I had to borrow a camera from Canon—thanks to a connection through Jamie Oliver, funnily enough. I ended up taking a camera, two lenses, and three batteries around in a handbag! It was one of those scorching summers, like 42 degrees, so I was in a little dress, sweating away, and feeling pretty nervous. What struck me most was the number of young winemakers coming into the scene—many of them women. I even did this cheeky shot where I had the women standing on pallets, with the men underneath holding them up—it was my little way of elevating them, literally and figuratively!

So now you have a firm foot in the world of wine, what will you do next?

I have found the wine industry hard to navigate, it’s like everybody is speaking their own secret language and making it harder than it needs to be. It became apparent that no one was really telling stories about wine. I was struggling to work out a solution, but then, about a year ago, it hit me—I knew exactly what the wine world needed. I wanted to simplify things and make wine more accessible, especially for everyday shoppers. So, I spent the last year developing a new venture called Inside Story, which I’m launching now.

Inside Story? Tell me more!

It’s a marketing concept for wine. The idea is that if you see a bottle with the Inside Story logo, you’ll know that there’s more to that wine. We’ve created this unique wraparound label, that you can unpeel to reveal the story of the wine. There are maps, watercolours, and even dynamic QR codes that take you to quick, engaging content like food pairings or an amusing story. But it's all kept simple and doesn’t bombard you with information. We’re also exploring cool ideas like live webcams in the vineyards, so you can get a real-time feel for where your wine is coming from.