Matt Barnes
July 24th, 2009
Matt Barnes is nothing more than a voyeur. Sat in the corner, he surveys all before figuring out the best way to add his perverse twist to anything left open to his lewd persuasion. Clad in chambray, he stands, taking one last drag of a cigarillo before it’s stomped to a smolder by his gator boot. As his subject is approached, you realize; when Matt looks at you, he sees only a skewed part of himself.
A melange of influences have helped Matt shape his style. Inspiration comes from time spent diggin’ through crates of records, downing Mai-Tai’s at a considerable pace or wallowing in the seediness only a roadside motel room can provide. A chameleon, as equally at home in the company of diesel drivers, with forearms big as beef, as he is philandering amongst the tuxedoed ‘in’ crowd, he has the unique ability to flow from commercial ad to rock & roll album cover without missing a beat. Matt’s life is a bona-fide photoshoot and he’s going at it lock, stock and barrel.
Lately, when not knee-deep in sleaze, Matt has been quietly preparing to make moving pictures, assembling a film side of The Spot Productions. A recent recipient of the Bravo Fact grant, he hopes to turn his success as a commercial photographer into that of a successful director. With work on his debut film wrapping up, it looks like there’ll be no time for this soon-to-be auteur to back off the hammer!
The above shot is of model Anastasia Andranov. It was just a personal shot outside our studio. I really dig the sheer top and pink peglegs.
The above shot is of a high school buddy and his girl, it is part of a series I have been doing lately called ‘Summer Love.’ I based the shot on the Tom Waits song “Shore Leave”. The image was created in Toronto’s East End China Town.
This image features the members of the band Michou. We created these portraits on location at Growers Landing near Port Hope in Southern Ontario, Canada. We stole a row boat from a cottage and took it for a spin and these shots remind me of growing up on the lake and being a teenage shit.
This is my buddy ‘Columbia Dave,’ I thought it would be funny to shoot him in an ’80s coke dealer style. We rented this house in Mississauga and it seems like the real deal – the dude who owns the place even had a black silk shirt on…
My folks moved out to Digby, Nova Scotia about a year ago and I went out there this spring to document the fishing industry. This is one of the scallop fisherman I photographed for the project.
We shot this image down by the lake in Etobicoke, Ontario. That’s Roger and his girl in a super hot Buick Leadsled. He’s a really cool daddio who owns some stores in Toronto’s world famous Kensington Market.
This is my wife Lady Hayes. We made this image for the promotion of her new record Opening Hearts and Apertures.
More Info: www.thatsthespot.com
Westside Studios: www.westsidestudio.com
Film Project: www.vaudevillians.com