Matt Stuart Workshop | LA
Sometime in December 2023, I came across an Instagram post by Matt Stuart promoting his workshop in LA in January, 2024. I jumped on it a couple of hours after it was posted, and received both good and bad news: it had already sold out, however; Matt decided to do another one right the weekend after. I made the $600 purchase right away—I was locked in. After the workshop, enough people reached out asking to share my experience so I figured I’d put it up here so it’s accessible for everyone.
Expectations
This was the first ever photography workshop I’d attended. I didn’t know what to expect or what to make of the fact that the workshop was in my city. It can be a challenge to get excited about photographing in a city that you have been shooting for years. I live and work in Hollywood, which at this point feels like one of the least interesting things to photograph for me. At any rate, I went into it with an open mind and tons of excitement.
Day 1.
We met right by the Los Angeles Film School building, which is coincidentally where I work 🤦♂️ So that morning we kept running into my coworkers, which was a bit of a distracting kind of fun. As I introduced myself to Matt, I could tell right away that he’s a nice guy. His demeanor is relaxed but also sharp and funny. Very easy to talk to. Kind. Overall solid dude.
Warming Up
As people were trickling in, Matt sent us on a quick assignment around the block just to get warmed up—shoot anything that you found interesting. Once we had the full crew and following a short introduction of everyone, we were put into pairs and sent on our first real task.
Assignment 1. | Fishing
Our first assignment was to find interesting backgrounds that would make for a great backdrop in a photograph. No need for subject(s) at this point. As Matt explained, more often than not, your background is going to ruin your photograph. So, picking that first can be a game-changer.
Something in the way how Matt explained this was like a lightbulb had gone off for me. When I started taking street photographs in 2021, the first thing I tried was the fishing technique, that is, looking for a backdrop and then waiting for interesting subjects to move into the frame. I quickly moved on from this technique because in LA you’ll often wait for 30 minutes without literally anyone in sight. Yes, there’s an endless stream of cars here but pedestrians, not quite so much. Or that’s what I thought. When I told this to Matt, he simply said: “you need to shift the way you see your environment. LA is an amazing city for street photography.”
When we were back from our assignment, he showed us all a great backdrop right where he was standing and it was eye-opening. Right where I work every single day, Matt saw a great little backdrop I had never noticed. He made use of layers and included in the frame everything that made the image stronger, and carefully left out everything that didn’t. We also reviewed some of our results and it just all made so much sense. I guess this is when, even though you’ve read a lot about it, watched films and tons of YouTube videos, when it’s all set in a very practical and educational setting with you being an active participant, it just clicks.
Seeing Photographs
As we were walking over to Hollywood Blvd from Sunset for our next assignment, Matt spotted several photographs in front of us and explained what made them work. He showed us photos that were almost there but not quite, and it was extremely insightful to dissect what was missing or what was ruining the potential of a great image.
Assignment 2. | Following
As he was explaining our next assignment, which was to identify a subject or subjects and follow them until you get at least five decent shots; mid-sentence, he spotted two twins wearing identical hats. That’s one of the things about Matt, he doesn’t fuck around when something grabs his attention—he acts fast. The next moment he was gone, running behind, then next to, then in front of his subjects clicking away. When he was back, he was like “okay, that’s what I meant: follow your subject, go past them, then walk back facing them, and then repeat. Do this in a loop until you have at least five shots.” As we were trying to get our shots, Matt would often wave from across the street and point out someone on the street to follow. It was fun, we were running around like headless chickens. When we all came back, he goes: “No, you guys are not sweating. You’re doing it right when you’re sweating and are out of breath. Go back and do it again until you break a sweat.” So we did. It was so much fun and extremely insightful. Definitely one of the takeaways from the weekend: when you see something, jump on it instantly, don’t fumble around.
At one point, I took my second fairly decent photo of a woman in red and sunglasses the shape of a heart, but then she noticed me so I moved on. I hear Matt from behind me go “No, no, no!” I’m like “why what am I supposed to do, she saw me, it’s not candid any more”. He goes “do not limit yourself on the street like that. Every moment is valid and every moment counts. You can worry about all the rest later.” I loved this bit of advice, too.
Assignment 3. | Getting Close
Our next task was to get close. We all used manual focus for this one and set our distance to 1 meter or 3 feet. We were not allowed to change the distance but had to get people in focus. Since I like to get up close a lot of the time anyway, this exercise was the least challenging for me on this day. See some shots from this exercise below.
Assignment 4. | Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills
After a spot of brunch, we headed over to Rodeo Drive where we were encouraged to photograph as much as we can, have fun, and work any and all the techniques we wanted. We were all working separately, and it was a lot of fun to see the same characters and scenes being photographed from various angles by different people the next day during our review session. We stopped by for a beverage to unwind before heading home for the day. Matt asked how many photos everyone took, which seemed to average around 300; he went “not enough!” I asked him how much he would recommend for a day like that, he said at least 1,000. I explained to him that if he’d said we should be more intentional and take fewer photos, I would’ve believed that, too. But when you think about it, it makes sense, frames don’t cost you anything, so why not have more options. This is when I set my camera, for the first time in my life, to burst mode.
Day 2
We met the following day in Santa Monica and, because I knew we were going to wrap up in Venice, I parked my car by the boardwalk at Venice Beach. As I get out of my car, I grab my camera, and these two guys fly past me on their bikes. How random!
After our morning briefing, Matt asked us to pick 10 photos from the previous day for our feedback session. Once everyone was done, we looked at his upcoming book. He went over the photos and, more importantly, the thought process behind sequencing the images. Hearing Matt dissect his photos and break down the reasoning behind their order in the book was incredibly insightful that provided very strong educational value. Then we went over each of our 10 photos from the previous day and this is where his tremendous experience shined. He looked at a few of my photos and went, “Okay, you get close. But these are essentially black and white photos, they have little color.” This is something I had been saying for a while, that people and moments draw me in but I feel as if I literally didn’t see colors. Not that I see in black and white, either, I’m just not there yet where I understand or am able to take the idea of color into account. Hearing it from Matt with such simplicity, only having seen a few of my photos was great confirmation. Once we were done with the feedback session, we grabbed quick lunch, and headed down to the Pier.
Assignment 5. | Constraints
Our final assignment was to come up with a project with a constraint and go off of that for the rest of the day. Like only photographing hands or gestures. Or only bald heads, or only interesting hair, etc. Matt recommended that I choose photographing colors. This sounded exciting and once I set out to do just that, I realized I don’t actually know that really means. After quick clarification from Matt, I was enjoying my adventures of this new way of seeing and trying to capture color. See some of the captures from this experiment below.
Walking over to Venice from Santa Monica on the beach concluded the two-day workshop. Unfortunately, I had to exit a little early as I had a prior engagement in Downtown so I missed the last bits of photographing the drummers in Venice and the unwind session at the bar.
Conclusion
In a world where information is abundant and free, what’s scarce is the person who can help you make sense of it all. Matt is able to provide that in his workshop. Having been in education for 30 years and instructional design for 15 of those, I can tell good educational value when I see it. This workshop taught me a great number of things and in such a way that is different from reading about it or hearing someone talk about it. Matt was able to teach us through truly experiencing his lessons. These lessons were put together well, and structured and sequenced efficiently. All this with a personality that effortlessly navigates the challenges and intricacies of different people, various backgrounds, nationalities, and levels of experience in photography. Matt is a solid dude, probably one of the greatest street photographers out there, and a lot to offer in his workshop. If you see an opening in a city close to you, I recommend you snag your spot while it’s there.