Matt Stuart: Humour in Street Photography

Matt Stuart was born in 1974 in Harrow, North West London, and shifted to photography in his early 20s after years of skateboarding. He served as a photographer’s assistant for three years before turning professional around 1997. His career, now spanning nearly 30 years, centres on London but extends to other cities. Milestones include joining the In-Public collective in 2001, becoming a Magnum Photos nominee in 2016, and releasing books such as All That Life Can Afford in 2016 and Think Like a Street Photographer in 2021. His photographs often use vivid colours against grey urban backdrops and feature stark contrasts to highlight textures like wet pavements or shadows.

Primary Genres: Street
Primary Photography Style: Straight Photography: candid, observational captures of real-life scenes without staging; Expressionism: humorous, spontaneous images that emphasise quirky alignments and absurd moments for playful impact.
Key Message: Matt Stuart aims to reveal the humour and spontaneity in everyday urban life through serendipitous moments. His work spotlights the quirks of city dwellers and environments, turning ordinary chaos into ordered, witty compositions that celebrate human eccentricity.

Matt Stuart’s most common subjects include pedestrians, animals like darting dogs, and urban elements such as umbrellas or suited figures in absurd scenarios. He focuses on unique aesthetics like high contrast between vivid reds and stark blacks, or textures from wet streets and fleeting shadows, often in colour or monochrome. Techniques involve shooting with a Leica M10 digital or MP film camera, paired with a 35mm lens for wide views, always handheld for quick responses at speeds like 1/500 second. He relies solely on natural light, from harsh midday sun to neon dusk, prioritising timing to align elements perfectly without flash. In editing, he uses Lightroom to adjust contrast, deepen blacks, and enhance colours for a crisp, authentic finish that avoids over-processing.

For intermediate photographers, Stuart’s style demonstrates the value of patience in straight photography, where candid shots demand constant readiness and quick decisions. He blends film and digital workflows: film like Tri-X provides organic grain and depth, while digital allows faster review and minor tweaks. This hybrid approach teaches how to maintain the raw feel of street scenes—film encourages deliberate shooting due to limited frames, whereas digital supports experimentation with light and composition on the go. Understanding concepts like zone focusing helps in pre-setting the lens for sharp results in dynamic environments, reducing reliance on autofocus.

Stuart’s educational contributions, through workshops and his book Think Like a Street Photographer, emphasise mindset shifts like walking extensively to scout scenes. He advises comfortable shoes and an optimistic attitude to handle rejections or missed shots. Presentation includes limited-edition prints up to 20×24 inches for galleries, and books that compile his work thematically, such as Into the Fire in 2020 focusing on more intense urban moments. Exhibitions at Leica Galleries in cities like London and San Francisco showcase his prints, allowing viewers to appreciate the scale and detail of his compositions.

Overall, Stuart’s process highlights how street photography thrives on observation over intervention, inspiring photographers to seek humour in the mundane. His techniques underscore the importance of equipment familiarity, like mastering a Leica for discreet shooting, to capture genuine interactions.

Accolades:
- Nominee member of Magnum Photos (2016)
- Member of In-Public street photography collective (2001)
- Work acquired for the permanent collection of the Museum of London
- Featured in survey books like Street Photography Now.

Trivia:
- Uses a skateboard to scout shooting locations efficiently
- Once played a trumpet solo for the Queen Mother at age 11
- Founded Plague Press in 2016 to publish fine photography books
- Often walks up to 20 km a day while photographing.

Lessons from this Photographer:

Stuart’s approach teaches the uniqueness of blending patience with quick timing to capture humorous juxtapositions, encouraging photographers to stay alert for serendipitous alignments in urban chaos. From his process, one key lesson is adopting a mindset of optimism and persistence, as missed shots are common but build resilience—apply this by carrying a camera daily and practising zone focusing for sharp, candid results. Experiment with natural light variations and minimal post-processing to preserve authenticity, shifting focus from perfection to storytelling through quirky details that reveal everyday absurdities.