![\"Madness_Triptich_The_LIFERS_Project\"](\"https:\/\/yobeat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Madness_Triptich_The_LIFERS_Project.png\")
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The image that started it all.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n He found the inspiration he was looking for in the process of wet plate photography. He’d actually grown up with a few of family heirloom tin types – his fourth great grandfather was a wet plate photographer in the 1800’s \u2013 but it wasn’t until he saw what went into it that it really clicked.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw a video that glorified the process and I was so inspired by it. I was like, this is what my ancestor used to do, I gotta fuckin’ learn how to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n Through a friend, he got linked up with Quinn Jacobson, one of the best wet plate photographers in the biz, who ended up taking Matt under his wing.<\/p>\n \u201cHe saw my passion for wanting to learn about it and do something with meaning and he basically just taught me for free. He pretty much just gave me the keys to his studio and was like here you go, come by anytime you want.\u201d<\/p>\n Not shot on wet plate.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Shooting with collodion is not cheap – Matt’s 11 x 14 camera body alone cost nearly $7000 and that’s not even counting the chemicals and set up required to make the actual tin types. Matt poured his own money into the project, and is still paying off the debt. With so much invested, he wasn’t just looking to shoot photos of just anything. He wanted an appropriate project to give even more meaning to his images.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of noise in the collodion world where people are just making tintypes not for any sort of reason besides the aesthetic. To take this much effort to make something by hand and to make these photographs, you should have a reason. That train of thought lead me to wanting to photograph what I loved, which is skateboarding. I met up with Chet Childress that\u2019s sort of what solidified the project for me.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Life is pain.<\/em><\/p>\n Since collodion is only sensitive to UV light, it can technically see beneath the skin. For example, if you have tattoos, it often won\u2019t even see them. Growing up in Philly, where skateboarding is often illegal, Matt had a few run ins with the law himself, and has always been aware that some people may not see his passion the same way he does.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to photograph people who have really dedicated their lives to skateboarding culture and given back to it. To try to capture with the photographs the real person, not maybe the criminal exterior but the real, genuine, nice person on the inside.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n