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Matt Redfern
Matt Redfern is a landscape and nature photographer based in Oregon, USA. He initially picked up a camera to document his travels. Later, his love for the outdoors and enjoyment of the photographic process led him to focus primarily on landscape and nature photography. Falling deeper into the art form, Matt found that photography became more than just a means to an end - it also taught him more about the world around him and connected him deeper to place. He now finds himself aiming to create expressive and meaningful images as he continues to evolve in this space.
Michéla Griffith
In 2012 I paused by my local river and everything changed. I’ve moved away from what many expect photographs to be: my images deconstruct the literal and reimagine the subjective, reflecting the curiosity that water has inspired in my practice. Water has been my conduit: it has sharpened my vision, given me permission to experiment and continues to introduce me to new ways of seeing.
Matt Redfern grew up surrounded by the beauty of the outdoors. Nature was a source of comfort and inspiration, but his love for photography developed later after he settled in California. Initially influenced by what he saw on social media, he credits the Covid19 travel restrictions with encouraging him to explore more local and intimate scenes. Since moving to Oregon, Matt has concentrated on capturing scenes that convey a story or hold personal meaning for him.
You say that you hate writing about yourself, so apologies in advance… but let’s begin a conversation. Would you like to start by telling readers a little about yourself – where you grew up, what your early interests were, and what you went on to do? It sounds like the outdoors has long been a place of comfort for you.
I should have said I struggle to write about myself. ‘Hate’ is maybe a little too dramatic. I think that’s because it’s hard to sum up who I am exactly in a paragraph or two, but I’ll do my best here. Ha-ha.
I grew up in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. My childhood was filled with a lot of time in the outdoors, whether outside at our home or on family trips. We would often go on camping trips in our large three room tent to accommodate our family of six. It would almost always rain heavily on us, too, but somehow, we endured and mostly had fun. My dad was also an avid deer hunter. When I was old enough to go, we would camp for days and hike into the woods each morning before sunrise and again in the early afternoon before sunset. We’d carry heavy tree stands on our back used for climbing up tall pine trees where we would sit and wait for deer. I don’t hunt anymore, but I think this background gave me more of an appreciation and understanding of forests. It became a place of comfort. Most of the time, I’d never see deer, but I’d watch birds and squirrels going about their day, totally unaware of my presence. I learned how to notice certain features in the forest, such as spotting animal patterns/behaviors, as well as how to navigate before we had GPS.