Seeing What's Around The Corner
Matthew Fuller: Seeing What's Around the Corner
By Patti Jones Morgan
When photographer, Matthew Fuller, steps out the door of his Poco Rio
studio, he's ready for work. "If I see the shot, I shoot it and that's it".
Intuition of scale and perspective, guide him, he says, along
with an instant evaluation of style, light, form and shape. "These multiple
elements work together as I view the whole scene, study the composition and
see how the light falls on it, " he continues. Fuller's philosophy is
simple— no multiple frames of the same image. " Just shoot the shot and
move on. I've discovered that if you work something too hard, and if you
think about something too much, you lose the immediacy and spontaneity of
that moment and image."
Fuller's dedication to classical, fine arts photography produces work often
described as atmospheric, moody, or romantic. Constantly alert for that
previously unnoticed place, environment, or city scape, he prefers to be
part of the scene rather than an outsider. Travel and fashion photography
work in Italy provided him a springboard for many projects in Europe. In
Paris, he produced ‘City of Light' a dramatic, sparkling night image of the
Eiffel Tower which remains his most popular-selling print, he notes.
Cuba drew his interest in 1999, and during a six-week immersion in the
culture, Fuller produced an acclaimed series of black and
white prints, titled ‘Particular Cuba.' Cuban citizens in street scenes, at
parties, making and smoking hand-rolled cigars, and even costumed for a
film found a receptive resolute audience with the Texas photographer.
Fuller explained to Southern Arizona Online's writer Cara Rene in ‘Cubans'
Spirit Burns Bright,' ( March 11, 2000) " I was more interested in giving
an honest portrayal of the people. I'm not really politically oriented. I'm
making a neutral statement that the human spirit exists in this place. I
wanted to show that there is joy, even in a repressed regime." The article
goes on to note that Fuller's Cuba series exhibits ‘an eerie illumination,
as though new life has just begun pulsating through an ancient being.'
While commercial and location work, including album covers for musicians
and bands such as the Flatlanders, Reckless Kelly, and Joe Ely are his
bread and butter, Fuller's first love is fine arts photography. Moving
from Austin to Wimberley several years ago, he brought along his expansive
array of large scale photographs taken during his international travels.
His own personal window on the world, they command huge physical and visual impact
" Images take on another dimension when they're scaled up," he explains.
" You're almost there, you have that perspective of reality."
" Experimentation is part of the process. " What I do is not a
secret; the real secret is dedication and diligence, sticking with it, " he
says. "My work is approachable and enjoyable for the people who buy it as well as the casual viewer,
and evokes a feeling of place and fond memories."