Meet Matthew Bogard | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Matthew Bogard and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Matthew, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I spent some time living in the Bay Area years ago when I really didn’t have much money to my name. I found a lot of joy in walking around, going for hikes, looking out for unique landscapes and using my phone to take photos. I found the creative process around getting the right angles, the light hitting properly, going through the editing process to be exhilarating. When I moved back to the Cleveland area, I invested in a camera and started watching youtube videos about how to work my DSLR camera and taking virtual lessons. From there it was all about listening to feedback and trying to be the best photographer I could be.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
In my mind, I really try and let my pictures tell a story… I’m very fond of the dark and moody style photography, when the light is low it just really makes everything mysterious. It creates a lot of unknowns and allows the viewer to piece together a story in their own mind. I’m still not where i’d like to be professionally today, my passion for wildlife and nature photography still takes up a portion of my time, but the majority of my energy now is focused on portrait/ wedding/ concert photography. It’s not easy transitioning to a new style, but I found what makes it easier is reaching out to other creatives in the area, picking their brain and taking constructive criticism and learning from it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love this question, Cleveland is criminally underrated. Folks just assume theres nothing to do here when that couldn’t be further from reality. In terms of eating out I would recommend Blue Habanero in Gordan Square for some great authentic Mexican food or La Plaza if you want to stay in that same realm. I also love Jaja in Ohio City if you want little fancier experience for Dinner. I also really like All Saints public house by Edgewater, great drinks, awesome ambience and the food is great as well.

Thinking of fun things to do, the underground music scene in Cleveland is phenomenal and only growing. If you can catch a local show at Mahall’s in Lakewood or Coda in Tremont you’re in for a fun time. The Happy Dog is always promoting local talent as well and it’s great to see folks enjoying themselves playing great music to a bumping crowd in a small venue.

The museum scene here is great also! I love the Cleveland Museum of Art (also free) and the new museum of modern art down by Case. You’re bound to run into Student’s from CIA (Cleveland institute of Art) who would be happy to answer questions about pieces you may not know about or different styles that are really prevalent today.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutout is definitely my wife Nicole. She has been the most supportive person for me in this journey by far. She has always pushed me to new limits with my talents and helped me expand from simply nature photography to try my hand and explore different aspects of photography that I didn’t think I would enjoy. I also take a lot of my photography inspiration from folks like jimmy Chin who is really a pioneer in modern day adventure photography. His work takes him all across the world and the shots he’s able to get are just fantastic.

Website: https://matthewbogard.smugmug.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nature_matty/?hl=en

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/96949732/admin/feed/posts/