The Atlantic ocean’s salty breeze never carried far in New York. Tucked between concrete slabs, hot summer days passed by for many years without a single grain of sand or cooling bead of salt water ever touching Matthew’s skin. Sometimes there’s no explaining where the unquenchable thirst for that sea-spray anchors itself in the mind. Sometimes it’s just the dream of adventure, the calling of the wild, or the struggle for a creative outlet that has one being drawn to a life less ordinary. How and why a New York City schoolboy found himself daydreaming of far off places and crashing blue surf is unknown. Why those real life images, never seen in person, were tugging at his chest can’t be said. All we know is that the ocean captured him one day, held on, and has yet to release.
Matthew was awarded the 2nd Annual Follow the Light Foundation Grant presented by Surfing Magazine in 2007. He’s currently represented by galleries both in the U.S. and Internationally. Matthew’s images can be found anywhere from the cover of a magazine to the NYC transit system, from the streets of Paris to the center of Times Square. His cinematography has been featured in Innersection as well as SIGHT|SOUND which was nominated for best cinematography at the Surfer Poll Awards 2011. For such a young artist, he’s building his international reputation as one of the most artistic and photographically inclined people in the surf industry. Matthew also designs jewelry, runs and operates his own clothing label named “Naff le Skell“, illustrates, writes, and works as a cinematographer.
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