We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Matthew Prater a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Matthew , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, let’s jump into one of the most exciting parts of starting a new venture – how did you get your first client who was not a friend or family?
The first client that was interested in working with me when I first started was my very very close friend [a brother really !] Shun he is the creator of the brand Irui Studios [go follow him on Instagram @iruistudios] we had met in high school and we both had similar interests in fashion, culture, and art and when he told me about his brand right then and there I knew we could both come together and create inspiring impactful art together and that’s precisely what we did. Ever since then we both have grown as artists in our community continuing every day to make a name for ourselves and continue to push boundaries with our art I am forever grateful that I met him I don’t know if would’ve been able to make it this far without his help he’s my brother for life !!!!!
Matthew , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Matt Prater AKA ShotByMatt I am an artist out of Detroit Michigan people know me for my photography and videography but I am a multimedia artist as well I can do everything from painting to graphic design anything creative I try to put my hands on lol !! I have been doing photography for 4 years now! I first started off with a polaroid camera my grandma had gifted to me it didn’t work but I had done some research on it and I just fell in love with the way it worked and that really sparked my passion for photography. In Christmas 2018 I got my first digital point-and-shoot camera! I would take photos of my family and friends before I had any real client base then maybe a few months later I found a love for shooting film I really fell in love with it and to this day that same love is as strong as the first time I got my first set of pictures back from the film lab! What sets me apart from others is really my videos that I make I try to create a very emotional feel to them I am not trying to get people to understand what they are seeing but instead, I just want you to feel it all I think that’s the most essential part in a video to me. As a creative, I have met so many wonderful people and I am inspired every day by all of them I think that’s what keeps me going also but I really do all this for the youth to the generation of creatives that will come after mine I truly believe The Future is in the youth.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
When I first started doing photography I really built my audience on social media by constantly posting and promoting my pictures all the time I really tried to get out every day and take pictures even though in the beginning I had no real client base I was really only taking pictures of my brothers and a few friends and at the time I felt like that was enough to at least start to build an audience so I had stuck to that plan just to post at least one of two pictures a day and I kept that up for about a year and that’s how I had people from the creative community in my city really start to notice me and before I knew it I was being invited to photoshoots with other photographers events and parties and I didn’t even have a license yet lol !! and 4 years later I have met tons of amazing artists and have made connections with so many great people in my city so my advice to anyone who is trying to build an audience on social media all I have to say is one thing… Keep posting your art !!!!! just keep putting as much content as possible out there and I promise you an opportunity will open up for you don’t be scared be confident in your art and keep putting content out !!!.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My end-all goal is to eventually start my own freelance media business so I can finally be my own boss I also want to put together my very own media team of creatives soon my goal is to get creatives together in a safe workplace environment to help them build as individuals and as artists !!.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.shotbymatt.org/
- Instagram: shotbymatt__
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnYJ7K1_lHN9ub6OqPKx9hQ
Image Credits
@janaenoir @lastqueens__ @thealanakiera @shunjiroka @timjewls @_adapte @s3xdiety