Artist Statement and Biography

Marci and I at Bryce Canyon National Park in May, 2007

I have had a camera in my hands for as long as I can remember. What started as a hobby for a child has developed into a successful career now spanning some eighteen years. Through it all, my love for photography continues to grow each and every year as I continue to look for ways to challenge and express myself both personally and professionally.

I was 12 years old when I learned how to develop black & white film and make my own prints. My darkroom was the kitchen, a bathroom, my bedroom - anywhere I could find to make a room dark. I took photos of everything, but my favorite subjects were wildlife and nature photography.

A childhood hobby eventually turned into a career in photojournalism. My love for nature photography notwithstanding, I realized the way for me to support myself with photography was to work for newspapers, then magazines. I started working for newspapers in 1990. Small weekly newspapers at first, then eventually large dailies. I worked either as a freelancer or staff photographer and became quite successful, receiving numerous awards and recognitions for my work.

Eight years later I was still in Connecticut, working as a staff photographer for the 3rd largest daily in the state, when I met my bride Marci. We decided we wanted a change of scenery. In 1999, we moved to the coastal community of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where I resumed my freelance photography career working for local and national newspapers and magazines. I also provided corporate and advertising photography, some stock photography, and even portrait and wedding photography to clients as well.

In 2003 I was awarded the New England Press Association's Photographer of the Year Award. By that time my photos had appeared worldwide in newsprint, magazines, books, textbooks and other publications. It was also at that time when I started craving a new challenge. I was tiring of covering depressing news stories and the same old thing year after year. Living in beautiful Cape Cod, I started going back to my roots in photography and began photographing nature again. It seemed like the time was right to switch career paths.

Marci and I did our very first art show in 2003 on Cape Cod. We set up my new booth tent, displayed my photos of the shoreline, and opened up for business. It was a fabulous day. Customers purchased my work because they admired the photos I had taken on my own time. It was a completely different satisfaction I felt that day, and hard to describe. For 13 years up to that point, I was getting paid to take specific photos for editors and clients. For that one day at the show, I was receiving money for creating images I photographed for myself - and other people connected with and purchased them. Soon after that show, I found myself doing more art shows and less newspaper/magazine work, and photographing nature more and more.

The fall of 2006 found us trading the sands of the ocean for the sands of the desert. The Sonoran Desert in Phoenix, Arizona to be exact. We both fell in love with the landscape on a photo trip there the year prior, and by the time we moved the majority of my income was from the sale of my fine art prints. In moving to the Southwest, we were leaving my editorial career behind and moving forward with my becoming a full-time artist.

In the short time we have lived in Arizona, both my career and the work I produce have grown tremendously. As has always been the case since I was twelve, I print my own work. For me it is in the printing process where my creativity and vision really shine and take focus. My creative process has only just begun the moment the camera snaps an image. The majority of work occurs in my now digital darkroom, and the process is not complete until I have created the perfect print. The final print you see has been carefully enhanced and perfected by me so I may share with you my vision. So you can see the world through my eyes. So I can take you places you may have never been before. So I may provide you with artwork that will beautify your life, your home, and that which you will cherish forever.

Matt Suess
June 2007