Athol Shmith (1914-1990) was a professional photographer specialising in portraiture, branching into the fashion and advertising fields after 1936. He gained the reputation of being a leading social portrait photographer. In 1945 Shmith helped develop the Camera Graph continuous flow film or Photo Finish camera for horse racing. Shmith also helped to institute the photography collection at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1968. He was senior lecturer-in-charge of the Department of Photography, School of Art and Design at Prahran College of Advanced Education 1971-1979.