Matthew brookes

matthew brookes

matthew brookes


Self taught photographer Matthew Brookes was born
in England, grew up in South Africa and now lives
between Paris and NY. Matthew's early career as a
photographer began in South Africa but quickly
moved to Paris - this was a great influence on his
aesthetic as a photographer as he was fascinated by
the effortless simplicity of Parisian style. The
combination of French simplicity and his love of
nature and authentic imagery became a lasting base
to his photography.

Matthew's very goal as a photographer is to
photograph the soul of his subject - when he has
someone in front of his lens he likes to work from the
inside out instead of the outside in - for this reason
he loves to work with actors or models with a
sensitive character as they can be generous with their
emotions.

Clients include Armani, Berluti, Cartier, David Yurman,
Burberry, YSL Beauty, Dior Jewelry, Biotherm, Louis
Vuitton, Z Zegna, Tommy Hilfiger. Editorial clients
include L’Uomo Vogue, Vanity Fair, T Magazine,
Interview, Numero Homme, V Man and GQ Style UK.

Matthew also published his first book ‘Les Danseurs’
in 2015 - based on the Ballet Dancers from the Paris
Opera.

Мэттью Брукс (Matthew Brookes) родился в Англии, вырос в Южной Африке, а последние 8 лет живет в Париже. Фотографии обучался самостоятельно. Снимает портреты, фэшн и рекламу. Saskia de Brauw by Matthew Brookes for M Le Monde Eva Herzigova by Matthew Brookes for M Le Monde Mat Gordon by Matthew Brookes for New York Times Christian Stroble, Baptiste DeMay, Lucas Mascarini by Matthew Brookes for Soon Jeremy Dufour, Viggo Jonasson, Linus Gustin Adnan Djinovic by Matthew Brookes Ashton Kutcher by Matthew Brookes Gaspard Ulliel by Matthew Brookes Barbara Palvin by Matthew Brookes

Matthew Brookes is a British fashion photographer who grew up in South Africa. Now splitting his time between Paris and New York, the photographer is known for his natural and simplistic style. Brookes has photographed editorials for magazines such as GQ Style Germany, British GQ Style, and Town Country. The photographer has also collaborated with fashion brands like Todd Snyder, Cerruti, and Armani Exchange.

No worse feeling then when you’re recording a 30 min video and in post you see the guest hit the mute button halfway through.2-0 y’all🚨 This just in: all 1 gazillion @PremierUltimate Player Sponsorship jerseys are packed and ready to ship. 🎉OOFThe Sol is playing a trap version of the Reading Rainbow theme.It’s tryout day. Everyone say good luck and don’t let your Cinco De Mayo mistakes hold you back. Maybe I’ll just go for handler today.I’m always ready for graduation. CTX grads check the Concordia IG for y’all’s pics! Also I’m ready for grad photos if anyone needs some.I wanna make a Callahan video one day y’all. Texas peeps??Things we know: 1. @PremierUltimate PSP Sponsors are the BEST. 2. The VC Team is pulling overtime hours this week weekend to keep pumping these out in to the wild. 3. @ImagesMatthew is so generous with his talent it's bonkers.Anyone else need to see this today?This is exactly when you invest in a videographer once in while. I don’t even know this team and I’m so hype right now.Sports creatives could never unionize for livable wages because there’s always a kid with a crappy camera that will do it for $34 and a tag on Instagram 😭Some fun in the sun with @colorofultimate 🌞 📸: @ImagesMatthewThe most electric moment!Was just told by someone that my “camera quality looks great”. Don’t be that person. Your camera doesn’t take good pictures. The photographer does.Get your tickets yet? https://torched.bpt.meTickets here: https://torched.bpt.me👸🏼: @mindyrad08 📸: @ImagesMatthewGentle reminder I am always willing to travel for frisbee.These @ImagesMatthew pictures: 🔥 Stay tuned for more @ColorofUltimate games later this year. Show your support: http://vcultimate.com/collections/color-of-ultimate-fundraiser…Sheeeesh this is so good @ImagesMatthew (Also @BAEWATCH_1 looks hot 🥵)Enjoy! https://youtu.be/oTKEa0aT5Is🔥🔥🔥Let’s go!TBUF/Color of Ultimate 2023 https://youtu.be/oTKEa0aT5Is via @YouTube @ColorofUltimate @vcultimateY’all want the TBUF and @ColorofUltimate video?This season wouldn’t be happening without the generous sponsorship from Austin’s “Ultimate Realtor” - Rob Seidenberg! He has been a supporter and believer since day one and we are proud to wear SKOUT on our sleeves! If you’re looking to buy/sell a home in ATX, give Rob a shout!I think I post almost exclusively @atxtorch content. You know you love it.Yesterday included: 3 shoots 7500 photos takes 6 batteries wasted 3 cities traveled 2 oranges eaten 1 terrible sunburnWE'RE LIVE! 👉 Nashville NightShade v Austin Torch: http://youtube.com/watch?v=aqvwcvwPAn8… 👉 Indianapolis Red v Minnesota Strike: http://youtube.com/watch?v=V7pEtcEQKY4…YesAir Mindy is bringing the anti-gravity boots to tomorrow’s game vs @NashNightShade. See y’all at @stedwardsu at 5pm sharpThe @thetexassmoke names Concordia University Texas (@concordiatx) as their home field! See you in June, Austin!💨So stoked to be working with y’all!!Where there’s smoke there’s fire and this one is hot off the press 💨 Today, The Texas Smoke announces our home field: @concordiatx Ticket sales coming soon 🎟️ #homefield #announcement #wprofastpitch #fastpitch #softball📸It’s called fashion look it up @AyyyyOhhhh @Slevtown @atx_traineryeag.https://vcultimate.com/products/austin-torch-light-replica… Game time in ✌️ days! Get your jerseys ready!! Or buy one of our new whites from @vcultimate for the last home game May 20th🥵🥏❤️‍🔥 📸 @ImagesMatthewThe NCAA’s leader in field goal percentage this season? None other than Big Antoine Henderson! 😤💪 #TornadoNation🌪️

When you take a group of dancers away from rehearsal and ask them to represent birds falling through the sky, their bodies can take on the most beautiful poses. This is exactly what happened when photographer Matthew Brookes worked with twenty male ballerinas from the Paris Opera Ballet. “A metamorphosis happens and they channel something from another dimension,” the artist told WWD. “It's something godly, almost mystical.” What adds to this otherworldly transformation is that the dancers aren't in a familiar location. For his Les Danseurs project, Brookes brought the dancers to a minimalistic setting that allows the men to be the main focus.

“I was fascinated by their physicality, their strength and the training that's involved,” Brookes adds. “They are first and foremost athletes, more than artists.” With his background in fashion photography, the artist used this expertise to create images that feel high fashion. Between his graceful creative style and the ballerinas' stunning interpretations, this makes for an eye-catching photo book that celebrates the art of dance.

NEUEJOURNAL:
How did you approach shooting this project? You’ve obviously done super high-fashion, very carefully and meticulously styled things, and this project is more documentary in nature, but it also has a stylish aesthetic to it. How did you go about it?

MB
It was very much from a documentary point of view, but my fashion head got in there as well, just naturally. It was about documenting these people in their world, trying not to put too much of my own influence in there, and just capturing them as they were: surfing, hanging out in the parking lot with their friends. The stylistic point of view comes more from the people. They have a particular way of dressing, and a very particular style, which had nothing to do with me. It was a very nice way to discover a culture that I knew nothing about.

NEUEJOURNAL:
Is there an overlap between the surf culture and the skate culture? Or do they tend to keep separate camps?

MB
When it comes to professional surfing, it seems to be more distant. But the guys that were living out of vans were skaters and surfers. A lot of the guys that I was photographing were actually skaters in the beginning and then became surfers. Or they got injured when they were skating and then they needed to find something else that was easier on the body, so they ended up getting into surfing. But it seems like for each of them— whether they had been skaters before or not—surfing was their thing in the end.

NEUEJOURNAL:
How did they react to you? Were they receptive? Indifferent? Interested?

MB
I would say they were very inviting, which was kind of surprising to me because the surf cultures I’ve mixed with in South Africa were very exclusive and did not want to mix with anybody else, except other surfers. With these kids, once I was introduced to their group and they would see me arrive with one guy, they all became interested in the project.

I also found that when I was walking around in Venice Beach. Everybody was very open to being photographed, which is a very different attitude to what I’ve noticed in other parts of the world right now. It seems like if you take a camera out, most people get very suspicious and they’re like, what are you doing, what is it going to be used for, where is it going to go? Here it seems like people were just like “Oh, take my picture. Take my picture,” and they were very open. I found that very unique.  And as the project continued, they would invite me on their surf trips. They’d say, “Oh, the swell’s good down here, let’s go down to San Diego this weekend,” and I’d just get in one of the vans and they’d go down in a convoy. I’m not a surfer, so I was very surprised that they would trust me and take me in like that. When I asked them why they said, oh, you just seemed so into your project, so we were into it too. It was definitely a great experience and a great crowd of people. The whole surf crew, whether they were in vans or not in vans.