Mind’s Eye: Matt Roy

     When I called Matt a few nights ago to interview him for this Mind’s Eye piece, I had a list of questions that I was prepared to ask him. Most of the questions were pretty standard, but I figured that they would be good starting points that would lead to questions that I hadn’t thought of. Anyway, when Matt answered the phone, he told me that he had just put his daughter down to sleep and that he would have to be somewhat quiet. This immediately led into an organic conversation that lasted over 30 minutes, which, after I hung up the phone, I realized I had never asked him a single one of those questions. So, that being said, I will give you some background information on Matt and cover some of what we talked about. In the end though, as is the sign of any passionate and talented artist, I will let Matt’s work speak for itself.

     Matt Roy is a snow skier from New Hampshire, snow skiing he says was his first true love. When Matt was a kid he wanted to make ski movies, so he mounted an old VHS video camera to his helmet…you know, the ones that weigh like 25 lbs!  Obviously Matt knew from day one that you have to do what you have to do to get the shot. When Matt was about 8 or 9 he discovered skateboarding, he skated until he was about 15 and quit. It was also in this period of time that Matt picked up his mom’s Pentax K-1000 for the first time and started shooting photos of his friends. Unfortunately, all the film from that era is missing, which seems to be something that happens to all of us at one point in our lives.

     Anyway, fast forward several years, Matt leaves the northeast for the tropical climate of Miami, where he eventually begins working as a personal trainer. Matt is still a full-time personal trainer, which he is also very passionate about. But about 5 years ago Matt started wakeboarding and also went in to MIA Skateshop and bought a new setup to start skateboarding again. I guess not being able to snow ski as much as he wanted to was starting to get to him.

    Apparently the wakeboarding and skateboarding also sparked Matt’s photographic fire. He bought a 20D and started taking it wakeboarding to shoot photos for trade on getting pulled behind the boat, and he also started taking it to the old MIA Skate Park (R.I.P.) to shoot. Eventually, Matt started hanging out with and shooting photos of Abe Bethel and Rene Perez at the park, which led to countless hours of watching online tutorials, experimenting, and a ton of trial and error…photography was consuming him.

     As you can see from the photos below, all that time and passion has translated into some amazing photography. Matt’s skateboarding photography has been featured in Focus Skate Mag, Lowcard Mag, and FTK Mag (snagged the cover shot in the most recent issue). Matt says that he doesn’t want to make a career of photography (for now at least), he is focused on training, being a dad, and juggling a busy schedule, although he said that he is getting more and more phone calls to go shoot all the time. This also allows him to focus on shooting subject matter that he is comfortable with.

     Matt shoots and skates with the MIA Skateshop team and other Miami locals on a regular basis, which keeps him involved in skateboarding. Make sure to key your eyes peeled, lots of good things to come. In the meantime, enjoy this gallery of photos, all of which really epitomize the Miami skateboarding scene. – Nicks

Check out all of Matt’s work at Matt Roy Photography

All Photographs © Matt Roy Photography

Click on photo to view large.

July 15, 2011 | Categories: Interviews, Skateboarding | Tags: Danny Fuenzalida, Ed Selego, Florida, Focus Skate Mag, FTK Mag, John Ranft, Josiah Gatlyn, Lowcard Mag, Manny Benitez, Matt Roy, MIA Skateshop, Miami, Photographer, Photography, Rene Perez, Skateboarding, south florida | Leave a comment