Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Moore.
Hi Matthew, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I fell into photography by accident really. In 2008 I was recently married, still changing majors (aka stalling time), working as a shift manager for Starbucks, and feeling discouraged the night that Katie (my wife) and I sat in a dimly lit restaurant as I droned on, bemoaning the fact that I still had zero clues as to what I wanted to do with my life and, to make matters more difficult, felt absolutely bankrupt in the Dept. of Talent.
However, me Mum and Dad had given Katie and I a cheap little compact, point-and-shoot camera for a wedding gift. I didn’t know then, as it sat collecting dust on the shelf, that THIS was the vital clue and the missing piece that I’d been looking for. I took the camera along on our (delayed) honeymoon to Rome and I was really just having fun with it. I wasn’t trying to be artsy or creative or anything of the sort and, at the time, it CERTAINLY never crossed my mind that I’d eventually take photos for a living. However, my sister-in-law Jenni saw the results and was impressed enough by the images that I smuggled back that she inexplicably recommended me to someone she knew was in need of engagement photos.
Unqualified as I was and felt, I agreed to take it on, and it was a big plus that my father-in-law graciously lent me his (much nicer) camera that he’d just acquired for his business. So the very first shoot I ever photographed was set to take place in our first home. I began by having the betrothed couple stand in front of some cool Orla Kiely wallpaper that Katie had picked out, while I frantically fiddled and fumbled with the camera settings, trying to act confident in front of the couple, trying to just make it look decent, and having no clue what I was doing. But what you CAN’T tell from looking at those very first images I took (and to me this is really telling and interesting), is that only two feet to the right, the contractor is laying the wallpaper. And that’s about how my career has always felt!… If you could just see two feet outside of my frame you’d see all of the construction and the tracks being.
It would still be some time before I would ‘officially’ throw my hat in the ring and declare myself a photographer- much less a professional photographer!… You see, even back in 2008 the world had photographers in abundance, and I couldn’t stomach the thought of being just another one of them. All that to say, I never planned on making it a career and I honestly don’t even know the moment that I crossed over and became one. I just kept following the little bread crumb trail, expecting it to end,… but it just never ended. I just kept finding more and more crumbs and the tracks just kept getting laid at what, sometimes, seemed the very last moment. And over twelve years later, honestly, that still seems to be the case. Every year I wonder if it could be my last, if the well will finally dry up. But I still keep finding the ram in the thicket.. I still feel like I’m stepping out in faith and am always surprised to feel solid ground.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s never been a smooth road. But I’m okay with that. I think a lot of people don’t make it in this industry because they are blindsided by how much actually goes into it and how difficult, demanding, and taxing it can be at times. This is especially true if you consider yourself an artist before you consider yourself to be a business person. To the artists, all of the things that come along with running and managing a business can feel so cumbersome- It’s like the shackles on the genie’s wrists. I’d posit that only ten to twenty percent of what creative people do actually involve the aspects that they really like and that everything beyond that feels painfully obligatory and burdensome.
I constantly have to remind myself that I’m lucky to have a job that has SOME aspects that I do enjoy, some of the time. And we all must do the same. It’s okay for something to FEEL like work. And if it does feel like work even the majority of the time, that doesn’t mean something is wrong. I think the younger generation, especially, has a really hard time swallowing this pill and tend to feel that, for whatever reason, if they do not love their jobs all of the time and do not feel passionate about it every morning they wake up, each and every second of the day, and each time they head out to a gig, that something must be wrong. It’s a bad place to be in. It is a paralyzing and crippling notion and if you buy into that thinking you are destined to not make it. It will only drive you to madness and misery. I feel that if we can’t be grateful, even some of the time, about the aspects of our jobs that we DO like, then we can at least fall back on the gratitude of having a job AT ALL.. that we have some kind of talent that allows us to pay the bills and buy a beer every now and then.. That’s something to take pride in and there is great freedom to be found in accepting that.
And, by the way, my ‘non-creative’ friends will often hint that they envy what I do as a creative person. But whether you’re an accountant or a photographer, a lawyer or a graphic designer, we ALL want to rip our hair out at times stuck behind a computer screen.. We’re all in the same boat and creative people have an annoying habit of only showing the cards they want the public to see and giving off false airs. You may envy us at times but I guarantee you that, at times, we envy you as well and have many days where we would GLADLY trade our cursed creativity for some of that linear, left brained thinking! The grass is always greener, right? But both are still green enough to find some peace.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m mainly in the wedding-world but I also do some commercial work, boudoir, family, seniors… stuff like that. I’ve been around for over 12 years now so a lot of people in the industry have heard my name, but very few have met me in person. I’m kind of the hermit of the photography world who only comes out when he sees his shadow:) I think I’m just so immersed in ‘Creativity World’ so much that it’s nice to have some friends who have other, third-party, interests- friends that are home builders, salesmen, carpenters, etc.. I personally find this very refreshing. It was only about four years ago that I, begrudgingly, opened up my first social media account.. I don’t hate doing it now, so long as I can be myself. But these are things that make me, me. I care about the art side of things more than anything else.
Sure, I’ve got a family to provide for and I’d like to make a good living as much as the next person. But the art comes first for me and I’ve never compromised on this. I’m intuitive when I shoot and am known to be borderline reckless. This certainly scares off some potential clients who want to know exactly what product they are getting before I ever snap the first picture. I never make those guarantees. I tell my clients that I plan, I scout, I do my homework.. but when it’s showtime I’ll throw four out of five ideas out the window in a heartbeat if I feel like something better is unfolding and presenting itself. This method scares a lot of photographers as well. More than just ability it takes great confidence and courage. It’s extra work, it’s extra sweat, but it’s an area I thrive in and just something a lot of people can’t do, or at least do it well. It’s just the only way I know how to be and the only way I can take pride in what I do. In short, I’m here to show that it takes more than slapping on a fedora to call yourself an artist.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I like the food the best. I dislike the fact that most of the people actually raised in Austin have moved away or been pushed out of the birdies nest.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@matthewmoorephotography.com
- Website: https://matthewmoorephotography.com/
- Instagram: matthewmoorephotography
Image Credits
Bw Theory
