Matt H. Vuong

Name: Matt H. Vuong
Occupation: Account Management Rep

What made you become a photographer and how did you get into the industry?

The need for a creative outlet. Honestly, we live life so fast in this city that sometimes we forget to stop and smell the roses so to speak. I love being able to show a different vantage of every day life. That’s what photography is about to me. The fact that I can stop a moment in time, from my own perspective - it’s about being in control. It’s also a casual thing where you can learn at your own pace, how much you put into it is how much you will get out of it.

I got into doing this by sheer luck. I was out of a job after getting laid off from an IT company, I had shot a few weddings as a guest and found an online ad for a wedding photographer’s assistant. I applied, sent in my limited portfolio. A day or two later, she responded and liked my photos to my surprise! She offered me a summer time gig shooting along side her. After a summer’s worth of shooting with a pro, my portfolio grew and expanded. I showcased my work on Facebook and people noticed. Soon I was getting requests to cover charity event galas, two big budget honoring parties sponsored by Audi, a few more weddings.. I even had an invitation to L’Oreal Fashion Week by one of the local designers from Ryerson University.

Matt H. Vuong

Describe your style of photography and what do you like to take pictures of the most?

Oh that’s a tough one. Every shoot’s different for me, it really depends on the location and type of event. I like to scout ahead so I can plan out what I think will look great on digital in my head. I would say that though I shoot like photo journalist first, traditional second. Traditional in a sense when it comes to weddings only however. I like to capture expressions on a person’s face that shows the emotion they are feeling right then and there in that moment - what ever they may be doing! So say years or decades from now, they can look back and say, “hey, I did that, that was me!”

What I can say for certain is that when it comes to models, I only shoot in a tasteful manner and setting. I don’t like the whole so called ‘import model’ scene. It’s just not my thing. I think there isn’t really much skill involved to get a girl to wear revealing stuff, strike a lusty pose and have guys lust all over them.

My love for photography really grew when I first experimented with taking shots of the city at night. I’d drive around the edges of the city, looking for a view that shows all the pretty lights of the downtown office buildings. I once shot on the roof of a downtown apartment building in Mississauga. When people think of Mississauga, they think its boring, lifeless, maybe Square One..you know, the mall. I was right there in the middle of what you can call the downtown core of Mississauga. As the sun gave way to the night, the reflections of warm orange light on the glassy buildings were quite a sight to behold. When it eventually turned dark, like stars against a darkened sky, all those tiny windows in high rise buildings lit up. So too did the street lights far down below. It’s such a pretty sight, to be able to stand high above ground and just seeing the city come to “life”. I guess this is how the birds must feel.

I took maybe 50-60 shots in the span of 3 hours that night. 15 would make the cut for my portfolio. A random travel agency from the United States saw them, and bought 2 photos in that set for their use. Something about showcasing Toronto and its surrounding areas in vacation packages to Canada. They promised me a copy of the brochure, I never received one.

You’ve taken a lot of fashion shoots, who are your style icons and what are your favourite brands?

I am far from a fashionista - but I do like Max Azria, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Vera Wang to name a few. I think fashion is very subjective, what’s hot to one person (like myself) may not be so great to another. I have some friends from the fashion program at Ryerson and some of the outfits that have come out of there are absolutely gorgeous! There’s a shoot that I did for one of the students from Ryerson, her dresses were absolutely amazing and it looked like it belongs on the runway or something! You could say she is my style icon since like myself, she’s an amateur striving to be a professional in a field that’s epic in scope and very few will make it.

When it comes to myself, I’m a 3 piece suit toting, neat hair, shiny shoes type of guy. Haha! Even my cell phone is a cool, reflective champagne gold! I like to keep a healthy dosage of Versace, Hugo Boss, Mexx, J Lindeberg, and to some extents, H&M. For the crazy outrageous styles though, you’ll find me digging through Le Chateau. Where else can you find all the colors of the rainbow in clothes year round??

If we were to raid your closet, what would we find?

Aside from skeletons?

Dress shirts, of almost every color. Red, blue, white, yellow, orange, pink, green, purple even pinstripes. I need more pants, I only wear black, white, gray slackers and jeans from the GAP, deep navy color mind you for jeans only. Very boring I know. I keep a few logo t-shirts long/short sleeves for the days where I just want to relax. I’m starting to collect polos from the Banana Republic, they’re very comfortable. What I’m really proud of though is my collection of ties. I think over the years I have over a dozen and a half ties. That is a lot of ties for the average person. I don’t know why I have so much, I get them for birthdays, Christmas, myself to wear with whatever new shirt I bought. I also like collecting suits, as a guy you can never have too many in my opinion. I have half a dozen suits. Straight black, white pin stripes on black, black pinstripes on white, straight white, another straight black but different styling, a European cut white pinstripe on black… The couple of vests round out the suits. And yes, I have shoes that goes with every suit. I really like my white loafers from Harry Rosen that I recently purchased.

There are many photographers around Toronto, how do you stand out from the rest of them?

I think many is becoming an understatement. Competition between camera makers are heating up more than ever and with it comes a lot of price cuts for the entry level cameras. That means a lot of people are becoming “photographers” in their own right. I ignore them because in my opinion, everyone and anyone can take a picture. Yet not everyone can capture a true moment. You have to anticipate what’s coming, think ahead and get yourself in place. It’s all about being there. It’s about having an instinct of when, where and how things will happen. Perspectives plays a big role, I never go for the generic shot, I like to get below, above, from the sides - sometimes up close.

Another is experience, having been blessed to have worked with so many types of people in every industry the last few years have certainly helped. From Audi, the Design Exchange to L’Oreal, to the Canadian Cancer Society - these are all organizations that I have worked with in such a short time. I can only get better with each passing day.