[3] Schmidt primarily photographs artists in their studios, depicting his subjects in personal settings, revealing aspects of the creative process.
Artists he has photographed range from lesser known to world famous and include John Baldessari, Mike Kelley, Cindy Sherman and James Turrell.
[4][5] Schmidt has exhibited this ongoing body of work at Deitch Projects, New York City (2007);[6] The Margulies Collection, Miami (2008);[7] and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2012).
Art critic Karen Rosenberg observes that Schmidt's photographs "transcend Pollock-paints-a-picture clichés; each photograph has its own peculiar aesthetic, from Paul McCarthy’s being caught like a serial killer in a boat spattered with fake blood, to prankster Maurizio Cattelan’s installing his infamous sculpture of a fallen pope.
[14] Some of the cultural figures Schmidt has photographed include Marina Abramović, Kofi Annan, Michael Bloomberg, Hillary Clinton, Anderson Cooper, Sofia Coppola, Arianna Huffington, Jony Ive, Marc Jacobs, Jeff Koons, Karl Lagerfeld, Michelle Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Ed Ruscha and U2.