We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Matt Shapiro a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Matt, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
I have been involved in the creative world in one capacity or another for over a decade and never had a clear idea of how I could sustain a living without working for someone else. I slowly started to see a pattern between my love of racing and photography and as I began to marry the two things started falling into place. I worked for revered artists in New York City, galleries and museums in the Bay Area mostly in the fine art world and developed my skills as both a physical maker and photographer. I love the fine art world and would still love to be a part of it at some point, but I realized that when I took that skillset into the outdoor industry I started to thrive. The work that I have found sustaining myself involves working with athletes and joining them on adventures that most photographers can not do themselves, being both an athlete and artist myself I have found a niche that has proven successful. It wasn’t until I started to lean into my strengths and obsessions that things started to take off.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I do both photography and videography primarily the outdoor and commercial spaces. I am an endurance cyclist/runner and a creative with over a decade of experience working with other artists on a global scale. My work has really come into its own while developing and telling stories from the athletes perspective. My unique ability to relate to athletes has allowed me a look into their world that resonates differently from other photographers and has allowed the athletes and brands to show themselves in a new light. Knowing first hand what an athlete is dealing with during a big effort has allowed me to capture details an emotion that otherwise would go unnoticed. What I provide both athletes and brands is a marriage of skillsets that allow me to access places otherwise left untouched and share with viewers an experience much deeper and involved than before.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
On the vast majority of shoots I am capturing efforts that span multiple days and are not physically accessible to the majority of people. On a regular basis during these shoots I am awake for the full 24+ hour days and shooting the whole time as well as running or cycling to keep up with the athletes on their efforts. Being able to physically and emotionally keep this up while providing an enjoyable experience for the athlete is what I pride myself on.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
I worked for artist Tom Sachs in NYC and I remember one day he told me that when you are passionate about what you do and when you are starting out that you should spend all of the money you make on progressing that thing. Whenever I get paid from a job I make sure my basic needs are met and I spend the rest on equipment or trips that will contribute to my craft. This keeps me hungry and growing. I personally don’t care for money, I hate needing it, I don’t really want it but I accept that it is a necessity, so I choose to use my ability to make it as something that will continue to provide me the ability to experience new places and people. Historically, as long as I am continuing to do what I love there will always be ups and downs with money but it always works itself out. The more I spend it on what I do the more I get to do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.matthew-shapiro.com
- Instagram: @shapirothehero
