Larry Schiller Interview: Matt Walsh

  1Please list your full website address so our class members can view your work online?

"I don’t really need a website."

"the sixties" 

"Contact Press "

"Tomoko in Her Bath"

2. What’s your one best piece of advice for how a college photographer can prepare now for success in the workplace/marketplace after graduation?

He said, The most important thing for photographers is to find out what they really love about photography. What do you about about photography? It took me a while to figure it out, but once I learned that for me it was all about experimenting with different angles and using light in different ways, it helped me hone in on what I was trying to do. You have to develop your eye to the point where your composing things in your mind without a camera—subconsciously. 

The other thing, is that you have to work really, really hard without becoming a machine and loosing creativity. You have to put yourself out there more now than ever before because you’re competing with millions of people. It’s much different than it was ten years ago. hell, its much different than when I started. There were like 200 other photographers then. That’s why I moved into film.

3. If there was one mistake you could take back in your career path, what would it be?

“I think sometimes, I hustled too hard. There were times when I was too hard on people when making deals on assignments and I think that really hurt because I burned down some bridges. I should have spent more time out with the other guys—at the bar.”

  4. What technical skills for photographers will be valued in the coming decades?

He said he moved to film for a reason. When TVs became popular, magazine sales dropped hugely.

“I moved because it was something new I had never done and because that’s where technology was going. You always have to adapt. I did back then, and had to stop because I had a heart attack on the set of a movie I was directing a few years ago. I was dead for 70 seconds Or something. After that no one would insure me to do films so, here I am doing PR, and when I see fit, taking photos.”

 5. With so much devoted toward new technical skills these days, how can photographers also focus toward strong, meaningful content? 

“You have to shoot what you love, if you love it will be meaningful.”

  6. What are the names of two or three photographers (and agencies/affiliations/ employers) whose work you presently admire?

“I love Marry Ellen Mark, I published her first book with Annie leibovitz. I also like Contact Press Images.”

7. When you look at portfolios of up and coming shooters, what do you look for?

“When I look at a shooter’s portfolio, I really look for good composition and their use of light. I also look for depth in their stories or in a series. Right now we work with photographers who have been working on stories for months and sometimes years. “

 8. Do you think that with the emergence news organisations getting content from Eye-reporters and social networks our jobs as photojournalist will change?

“I don’t think anyone knows where this is going. But people can now take photos with their phones and it is certainly creating a lot of competition. “