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Matthew Clark

Surf Photographer

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Matthew Clark

New York

Matt has called New York his home since day one. Born in NYC, a life as a surf photographer might be one of the last things you'd have expected of him in grade school, however the moment he curiously scoured the pages of Surfer magazine in the early 90s, it was apparent, the ocean called his name. Concrete and bars over the windows may have once been his daily landscape, the salt, sea, and swell soon became where he'd dwell.

After losing his board under his mother's severe groundings so many times for lackluster grades, he picked up a camera and started shooting surf photos and quickly found he enjoyed the experience just as much as riding the waves. It wasn't long after that he was dividing his time between riding waves, and swimming in them with his housing.

If there's one thing to know about Matt, it's that he's the most passionate person about what he loves to do, there's never a half done job, or a grimacing face. When work becomes something you love, it's easy to understand why it becomes someones life. Pursuing a story telling career in film making, he received his Bachelors in Film Studies and Production, during which he consistently had his images published in major surf magazines around the world, still working out of New York. His background in making 16mm films, telling stories through moving images, has shaped his vision when photographing surf expeditions. Each image, in some way, tells an entire story and captures the essence of surfing, whether it be about the moment, or the entire trip.

Driven for success, Matt returned to school to tackle a degree in Photography, which he successfully accomplished in 2008, just months after being awarded the most prestigious award for surf photography, the Follow the Light Foundation grant, in 2007. Matt was the second recipient of the award and the first and only from the East Coast. Matt is a true artist, dabbling in everything from painting to t-shirt design, and has a sweet tooth for adventure, travel, and art.

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