Matteo

Another day, another coffee with…. Today’s guest is my photographer homie Matteo, photographers are always fun to shoot. They get so nervous and never know how to act in front of the camera, it’s always amusing. It is definitely easier to be behind the camera, I know I get really awkward the minute someone points a camera at me and end up looking like a deer in headlights. I made my way to Old Street to meet Matteo.

I met him at the train station; we exchanged pleasantries and headed out. As we made our way to our destination, we began discussing our current setup i.e. what cameras and lens we own (we are 6D brothers). I mentioned that I own a film camera that I really should be using a lot more, this led Matteo to ask how I felt about the film photography snobbery. This is something that I don’t get to be honest, for me it’s about the final image not the medium. I have the utmost respect for photographers that use film only but I don’t think it makes you a better photographer, at the end of the day if we can create the same sort of work using digital cameras does it really matter? After a short walk, we arrived at the shop – Salvation Jane on Old Street. We grabbed a table and placed our orders. I got my usual Latte and Matteo got a Cappuccino.

We settled back into our table and we began discussing the upcoming art show Matteo’s work is being exhibited (hopefully this will be up before the art show happens and if it is not, you missed out sucks to be you). Matteo mentioned his nervousness as this is the first time he is being exhibited and not sure what to expect, I told him it’s a feeling I know all to well. There is a huge difference between posting your photos online and seeing it hanging on a wall and people actively making comments, it’s nerve racking but a great feeling seeing physically seeing your work. We both agreed that we should get more of our work printed.

Our drinks arrived as Matteo pointed out that coffee has always been an important part of his family life (he is Italian if you hadn’t figure that out). He said his dad would always make sure that everyone was together for a coffee after dinner. Nothing is more important than family time, something we tend to forget as life gets. Matteo pointed out that he finds it hard to balance working; chasing a dream and spending time with loved ones. It always seems like when we focus on one aspect, the others tend to take a backseat but we keep trying to find the perfect balance – seems like a myth.

We moved on to our dreams – owning 2 gold chains… Okay that’s more me. We spoke about the work we have put out and the opportunities we have had and how we love what we have done but as artists we want to leave work that leaves a significant impact on people and generations, Gordon parks was an example we touched on. His work definitely inspires me the way he used photography to document social injustices in his time, this is something I would love to do.

As we were finishing our drinks, I spotted the perfect mirror for a selfie shot. After a few shots, we wrapped up our shoot and made our way to check out a few of the local stores.

Check out Matteo’s work here

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