Valley of the Arts helps artists showcase work

By Elizabeth Jackman

Photographer Matt Suess said he traded the sands of the ocean for the sands of the desert, when he and his wife, Marci, moved to North Peoria from Cape Cod, Mass. a little over a year ago.

“Two years ago, we came here on a photo trip and fell in love with the area,” Suess said. “Because photography is what I do full-time, we decided to move here and focus on landscapes of the West. We have a habit of moving to areas I like to photograph.”

Since age 12, Suess, now 37, said photography was his hobby. After high school, he began taking

mechanical engineering. But when he reached calculus 7, he decided he had enough. He took a year off, transferred schools and studied business management. He left one semester shy of graduation to pursue a job as a freelance photographer and has never looked back.

“It is has been my full-time career for 18 years,” he said. “I worked for a number of newspapers, both freelance and as a staff photographer.”

He began using a digital camera in the early 1990s, and brought it to the Connecticut Post, where he was a staff photographer in 1994 and 1995.

In 2003, he was awarded the New England Press Association's Photographer of the Year Award.

“I haven't shot film in years now,” said Suess, who uses a 35 mm SLR digital camera.

He said he is asked frequently what brand he uses and his response is, “I don't have a preference, it is a tool. I just look at what gives me the best quality. I am more attached to quality than the name on it.”

Suess said he does all of his own printing directly onto canvas, which he stretches himself, so when he delivers a piece, it has been 100 percent controlled by his own hands.

One question he gets asked, Suess said, is, does he enhance his photos?

“Absolutely, yes,” is his answer. “I don't limit my creativity to just what the camera sees. My goal is to bring out and share with the viewer what I saw when I was inspired by the scene. The fact that I do my own printing ensures the piece matches my vision.”

Some of his panoramic views can be a combination of eight to 10 photos put together, he said.

Suess also has a link to his blog on his Web site, www.dramatic-landscape.com that provides a behind-the-scenes look at what it is like to be a photographer. 

“Sometimes you get up at 3 or 4 a.m. to be in place when the sun rises and you might stay in the position all day, waiting for the light to be perfect,” Suess said.

Suess' work is on display from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through March 23 at the Arizona Fine Arts Expo, 26540 N. Scottsdale Road.

“It is a working studio,” Suess said.

For more information, visit www.arizonafineartexpo.com.

During Super Bowl XLII at University of Phoenix Stadium, Suess' photography was on display at the NFL Tailgate Party as a partner artist with Valley of the Arts owned by Carol Guarnero, a North Glendale resident, who founded the company last August to help artists showcase and sell their work.

“When I saw Matt's work, I thought it was breathtaking,” said Guarnero, whose company, Beyond the Box Solutions, has organized the Fine Art Walk at Village at Arrowhead (the AJ's plaza, southwest corner of 67th Avenue and Loop 101) for the past three years. This year, her new company, Valley of the Arts, will be featuring 15 artists at the event scheduled for April 5.

“We have an elite group of artists doing innovative and exciting things,” Guarnero said. “They are like any other performing artist and our goal is to find and create venues where they are compensated for their intellectual entertainment.”

For more information on Valley of the Arts LLC, call 623-322-3207 or e-mail valleyartsaz@aol.com.