Freelance photographer, Matt Doheny, has been passionate about photography since he was fourteen years old. His interest started when his father had given him a video camera, and Doheny used this camera to film his brothers surfing at the beach before he decided to take photos instead.
“This is my life’s passion—I’m not a photographer today and then next week I’m going to be a stockbroker. This is my life’s work. Every single time I go out to shoot, I always learn something new,” Doheny said.
He graduated from Brooks Institute of Photography with a major in Industrial/Scientific Photography and a minor in Digital Reimaging. Since then, he has been taking portraits for numerous musicians and actors, as well as look books and catalogues for different companies.
Even when he is not taking pictures for others, he can still be seen walking around with his camera. “I pretty much have my camera with me every single day. I’m always shooting things. My camera gets me everywhere in the world,” said Doheny. “That’s how I network, people see it and start chatting.”
If Doheny had a personalized motto on a T-Shirt, he would choose Overnight Success, Ten Years in the Making. Through his own experiences, Doheny learnt to be more patient in becoming successful as well as maintaining consistency to reach his goals.
“I remember when I was younger, 24 or 25, the thing that kept coming up in my head was, ‘Oh, why aren’t I successful yet? Why aren’t people hiring me all the time?’ I just expected it to happen so early, maybe because my younger brother, he’s an pro-surfer, he got it so early,” Doheny said. “It’s hard to see a long-term goal with short-term sight. It’s a journey.”