Questions asked by Audrey Kalman, article composed by Liv Jenks.
For the inaugural installment of the LitMag’s new bi-weekly interview series hosted by the Paper Tiger, we asked author and photographer Matt Allard about his work.
If you were to scroll through Allard’s Instagram feed you might think Allard is just another hipster blogger, as his account is filled with photos of vintage cars, murals, surfers and sunsets, but you’d be mistaken. Although Allard does have a blog, and enjoys practicing yoga and drinking top of the line coffee, he has achieved so much more in his professional career thus far! He is a self-identified writer and photographer based out of the Los Angeles area. Allard has published two short story collections, To Slow Down The Time (2010) and Pops and Clicks (2013), and is working on a novel. Allard received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College Chicago. As a photographer, he has partnered with many large brands such as Adidas, American Express, and Perrier, to shoot what he calls “lifestyle photos” to promote these companies. Recently, we reached out to him with a couple questions regarding his success and creative process, below you’ll find his responses.
How does the process by which you take your photographs differ when working commercially versus recreationally (if at all)?
It doesn’t differ too much because I think my style is my style, and I tend to only agree to and/or be hired to participate in campaigns that are looking for that kind of aesthetic. Photos created for a commercial purpose are often a bit more staged, obviously. The goal to is capture a specific thing or a product in a particular way. It’s the intention. Whereas, on a regular day, I’m more or less happy to capture a moment as it happens.
Do you find that your “best” photographs result from consciously going out to shoot those scenes specifically, or do you stumble upon them in a more extemporaneous way?
I’m a self-taught photographer and always learning. I still have a certain level of anxiety when I set the intention to go out and photograph something, whether for a job or personally. Will I get what I want? Will the light be wrong? Lots can go wrong. I find every instance is different. Most often my favorite shots are things that came about on a whim, like I tried 3 other set-ups and they didn’t work and then the improvised set-up ends up being better than whatever I had planned on. My favorites are those random right place, right time photos for sure. I prefer to just play. Special moments where it all just comes together. That feeling is addicting and definitely keeps me on my toes and coming back for more.
A lot of your work centers around Southern California vibes. Does travel cause noticeable differences in how you work and the results of said work?
I’m most drawn to capturing my environment wherever that may be. I spend the majority of time here in L.A. so I guess that has really infused my work. When I travel, I don’t think my style changes as far as composition and the types of things I like to photograph. The differences I most often see in my work are almost seasonal. Even in L.A., I’ll find my eye drawn to lots of blues and grays in winter, lots of color and highly saturated subjects in the summer.
How does the more casual setting of writing for your blog differ from your short stories? How does this difference manifest itself in the two formats of writing?
I don’t blog too much anymore, but I used to be rather prolific for awhile. It was a great outlet. Blogging for me was always personal, sharing experiences and snippets of my life that were true and, I felt, maybe worth cataloguing. My short stories are fiction, and my style of fiction can certainly take on a different tone and voice than I write in when I’m simply being myself. My personal writing is often silly and humorous, which is a big part of my personality away from the computer. My fiction is often more serious in tone. It’s a goal that the reader can never see the writer writing, so, if it makes sense, I hope that I disappear to a degree when someone is reading a story by me.
