Name: Jack Matthews
Year of Study: 3
Course: BA Marine and Natural History Photography
Role: Photographer for the campus Student’s Union
Meet this week’s Campus Celebrity, Jack Matthews. If he’s not running around taking images for his studies or sea swimming, he’s taking memorable images for Falmouth’s very own Student Union. We thought it would be fun to find out some of his most memorable moments from photographing the Stannary for almost two years. Her Campus sat down with Matthews to get an insight on the antics of the Stannary and the hilarious moments he has captured.
Hi Jack, firstly how long have you been photographing the Stannary?
“By the end of this academic year, I will have been photographing Stannary Events for oneyear and 9 months, which will total at 30 events for the University so far.”
How different is your personal style of photography in comparison to the work you do for the Stannary?
“The event stuff I do is completely different to my personal project work. I’m on MNHP (Marine and Natural History Photography) so Stannary stuff is completely different kettle of fish. I consider my normal work (currently) to be situated in the fine art kind of abstract areas of photography whilst The Stannary events are less about art and more about capturing the event. You want to show of the vibe of the party whilst capturing little moments for the people to be tagged in and maybe spark some memory into the evening. It is a pretty stressful environment especially around 11 to 12 p.m. as that’s when people peak, so I’d say working with people rather than scenery or wildlife is probably the biggest difference from my personal work.”
Following that, you graduate in five weeks! What do you hope to do once you’ve graduated?
“I’m actually planning on staying in Falmouth. It’s hard not to fall in love with this town. Being Cornish means I feel more at home than most here. Also means I can keep my job heading the media team for the Stannary, which I think was pleasing for my boss’s ears to hear… He loves me deep down. I am also going to earn some money whilst building up my photography business too, so I get to work on my own projects and doing photography jobs whilst living here.”
“The highlight of my three years? There’s a load. It’s hard to choose a few. Falmouth is the best place to get a degree let alone an arts degree; you can be as busy or chilled as you like. Cairngorms were a wicked week in Scotland with my course, shooting in the highlands from 5a.m. till 12p.m. I think just having a laugh with hundreds of new people; generally the people in Falmouth are wicked. I always smile when I get to remind them of what they said to me at Stannary party the morning after.”
Big thank you to Jack, and keep your eyes out for his exhibition in Bristol at the end of the year! Until then spot him at the next student union event!