Matt Inwood: Still-Life Photographer on Instagram
Photos have always been a huge piece of my life, whether it’s being in one, taking one or looking back at them. Photos help you relive past events from your life and even brag about your present-day adventures.
Especially with the importance of social media today, pictures are everywhere. I don’t know one social media app that does not incorporate photos and videos. Despite social media and my own photoshoots, I am outside of my expertise when it comes to actual professional photographers.
I began researching Instagram photographers and found many people who are specifically categorized as “phone photographers.” This was intriguing considering a piece of art can be produced by the most popular technology product in the world. The camera on a mobile phone has so many qualities and such a high definition lens that it almost looks as if it was taken by a professional camera and photographer.
I found Matt Inwood through a list of still-life Instagram photographers. Inwood is a phone photographer from the UK with almost 20,000 followers, and primarily shoots still-life images (@matt_inwood). Still-life images capture inanimate objects in artistic ways. When you search up still-life photography on Google and click images, most examples you see use food as the primary subject, which is the same style as Inwood.
Inwood captures food and turns it into art. Looking through his Instagram account’s posts, he uses shadows and rustic elements to help create an image that captures more than just meals. He manipulates several aspects of his surroundings in order to capture the art behind the food.
On Inwood’s personal website, he mentions that he worked with a UK food publisher for more than 15 years, which is what contributed to his love of food photography.
What I love about his pictures most is his use of natural light and shadows. There are clearly defined spots of darkness that enhance the feel Inwood is trying to communicate to his viewers.
Another theme he uses is a rustic and western look. His dark color combinations as well as a defined wooden table only emphasize this theme more and create a mountain lodge style.
Inwood is serving as my inspiration for my still-life photograph project. By manipulating natural light using a reflector, I hope to capture the same essence as he does in his photos. While my food will look nowhere as good as Inwood’s, he has inspired me to use that as the perfect object for my still-life shoot and highlight shadows and other colors to create a coherent piece.
