© Matt Furman

Meet San Diego-based Commercial and Editorial photographer, Matt Furman, who specializes in corporate, sports and editorial portraiture. Matt was also an Untitled 2023 finalist for his 75th anniversary cover image for San Diego Magazine.

Do you have a favorite podcast? 
Not really, I mainly listen to music and some sports radio.
I do have a great Spotify playlist for shoots though – ‘The Goldmark’  – made by my friend DJ Nugget and it’s a perfect upbeat mix with all types of genres. I shuffle it on most shoots and always get compliments.

What 3 words best describe your photography style? 
Authentic, Sincere, Poignant

What inspires you? 
I find I get inspired when I put myself in a setting or situation that’s out of my comfort zone. Travel helps, but not necessary – basically anything that scares me a little, typically leads to good things.

What’s your favorite thing about being a photographic artist?
Meeting people from all walks of life. I’m really all over the place with my work and I try to not take it for granted how cool that is at times. That can also be one of the hardest things too though, constantly starting from scratch and working with people you just met. I love it, but it can be daunting at times.

When you aren’t making photographs, what other pastimes do you have?
Since I’ve moved to San Diego, it’s been surfing and an obsession with golf.

Who have been your biggest influences?
Such a broad question, I’ll narrow it down to photography and specifically one, and that’s Bruce Davidson  I saw his book East 100th Street in a bookstore and it made me want to be a photographer.

What was the best piece of advice you were given starting out? 
Shoot everything, even if it’s been done before. And when I was starting out most people were saying the opposite, that you had to find a niche and stick to that. But why pigeon hole yourself? Keep exploring.

What are the current challenges that you face as a photographer?
Getting face time with clients, photo editors, and art directors. I love getting a coffee and showing some work to creatives, and these days feels like that’s a foreign concept or people just don’t have the time. And I’m not a fan of zoom calls.

What were you doing before you became a photographer?
Floundering in college.

What do you do when you get stuck?
Trying out a different camera, a drone, underwater housing, or just going and shooting some street photography, portrait of a friend, etc. You’d be surprised how you happen upon something that sparks that magic.

What advice would you give to yourself if you could go back 10 years? 20 years?
Learn to edit your work better.

What is a photographer’s role now that technology has made it so much more accessible to the masses? 
The key role for a photographer is to have a distinct point of view. It’s gotta be true to you – not what you think people are going to like, or whatever the hot new trend is.
Once you have that dialed in, I don’t think the tech matters all that much and who has access to it.

Check out more work from Matt Furman.