Matt Walford | Photography Blog

Moving Image

I've been wanting to experiment with motion more for a while now. Here is a little piece I've been working on called 'An Ending'. It's made up of a few hundred layers that are all separately animated.
Music is by the band Müm.

An Ending from Matt Walford on Vimeo.

World Meat Free Day

I had the pleasure of shooting this set of Ads for World Meat Free Day, for the brilliant Big Dog Agency. They went down a treat, I think they really put the message across in a nice tongue in cheek way!

And here are the individual elements that make up the 'Party Cow', to get an idea as to how I go about shooting these kinds of images. The animals were all shot separately on location, along with the foreground landscapes and the skies at different locations, but with matching lighting. The prop elements were then shot in the studio, matching the lighting to the location scenes and animals.

Polaroid SX-70

Just found this polaroid collage I did about 10 years ago, inspired by the Wizard of Oz.

It was made using old Polaroid SX-70 film, you could push and swirl the emulsion around in the polaroid before it set giving a really cool painterly effect. This was always super fun to do but also quite difficult...
You had to take a shot, let it develop and then get it in the freezer ASAP so the emulsion wouldn't set. When I was ready to start manipulating (using little wooden tools) I'd take one out of the freezer at a time, and use a hairdryer to warm it up so the emulsion could be pushed, pulled and smudged around. No Photoshop here! This one was especially tricky as I was attempting to make a collage of the same subject. Need to get the SX-70 out of retirement and get some film!

In Situ

It's always nice to see your work out and about. Spotted the Natwest Ad I shot in the March issue of National Geographic, with a nice full page spread.

Aurora Borealis

I was recently lucky enough to witness and photograph the Northern Lights on a recent trip to Tromso, Northern Norway.
The Aurora is something I have always wanted to see, and to finally get to experience and photograph them was awe inspiring.

Aurora Borealis are notoriously tricky to photograph, thankfully I did a lot of research before hand and my images turned out exactly how I wanted them to. Even if we did have to deal with temperatures as cold as -30!

A massive thank you to my girlfriend Jenny for arranging the whole trip! And to Chasing Lights for the amazing experience.

Gourmet Burger Kitchen - Changing Lives

You Agency commissioned me a couple of weeks ago to create an image for an upcoming Gourmet Burger Kitchen campaign. Creating a still life 'burger' of of quinoa, to be part of a series of Ad in and around the London Underground.

This was really fun to shoot. The campaign has gone on to ruffle quite a few feathers!

Natwest Private Account

I was recently commissioned by Ad agency Lida to create an image as part of Natwest/ RBS private account campaign.

The brief was to have a hallway with an open front door, leading onto a stunning beach jetty (the image of which had already been sourced).

The the help of a great team we matched the lighting and tried out various different prop variations.
This was then all comped together in post by myself.

I even managed to sneak one of my Orangutan images into the scene ;-)

Here's the finished Ad.

Spotted in situ in The Times.

2015

2015 was a great year, I got to work with some fantastic clients and commissioners. Creating work that I'm really proud of. Heres to 2016!

Process

Here is a little animation showing some of the stages that went into creating one of the award winning campaign images I created for Trees for Cities. Hopefully giving a little insight into how I create my work, after all the initial components are photographed.

Deer

Just put the finishing touches on a little new project, Deer. I wanted to create images that conveyed an etherial, magical quality to them, befitting to such majestic creatures.

Toni & Guy

I was recently commissioned by Toni & Guy to shoot an image to advertise their new limited edition 'Fluid Metal Styler' gift set.
The brief was to shoot the products floating, highlighting all the beautiful detail. And to have iridescent metallic ribbon matching the colour of the straightener plates. These ribbons represent 3 of the different hairstyles you can create with them, straight, curly and wavy.

I don't usually shoot still life products but it was a really fun, technically challenging job, with the client very happy with the end result.

And here are all the separate elements that make up the final image, as they were shot.

Brecon Beacons

Here's a few shots from a recent camping trip to the Brecon Beacons.

Greek Islands

Recently spent a couple of weeks travelling around some Greek Islands, had a fantastic time and saw some beautiful places.

Santorini Caldera

Oia Santorini

Naxos

Temple of Apollo, Naxos

Tinos

Below are some shots from the ancient island of Delos, a truly fascinating place...

"According to Greek mythology, Apollo was born on this tiny island in the Cyclades archipelago. Apollo's sanctuary attracted pilgrims from all over Greece and Delos was a prosperous trading port. The island bears traces of the succeeding civilizations in the Aegean world, from the 3rd millennium B.C. to the palaeochristian era. The archaeological site is exceptionally extensive and rich and conveys the image of a great cosmopolitan Mediterranean port."

House of Cleopatra

House of Dionysus

Terrace of the Lions

Phallic Statue (Tee-Hee)

Temple of Isis

Ohw? Shoes.

Just finished a really cool print campaign for Owh? Shoes. Art Directed by Paul Wallett at Big Dog Agency. All shot on location, this was a really fun project to be a part of...