SIYU Personal

Today, after a stint at a Swiss food manufacturer, he is self-employed. As a food photographer, Matter photographs cookery books, such as those by Swiss chef David Geisser. He is also involved with Swissmilk, the organisation of Swiss milk producers. He creates recipes for them and photographs them at the same time. However, his photography is not limited to cookery books, but also includes wedding photos as well as corporate and business photography.

Is it an advantage for food photography if you are already a chef? For me, it was a way into photography. It was an advantage that I could prepare dishes. It gave me the opportunity to finance my equipment. I didn't train as a food photographer and don't consider myself a food photographer in the traditional sense. It's an area in which I feel comfortable.
 
Do you create the recipes yourself or do you just photograph them? Sometimes I help develop the recipes. Three years ago, I developed recipes for Swissmilk. After a long time in the catering and food industry, I'm happy when recipe development, cooking and styling are taken over by someone else and I can concentrate on the lighting.
 
Are there any particular challenges in food photography? The biggest challenge is paying attention to every detail and not overlooking anything. Patience is not one of my greatest strengths. I feel more comfortable in an environment that is lively and in motion. That's why I prefer to leave the artistic photography of burgers and ice cream to those photographers who can muster the necessary calm and patience.
 
Which cuisine interests you the most? I'm fascinated by Middle Eastern cuisine! I'm eating less and less meat, or at least more consciously, which is why the variety of Middle Eastern cuisine is very welcome. However, I am generally open-minded and endeavour to gather many different impressions. When we are travelling as a family, I am usually driven by culinary experiences.
 
Wedding, corporate, business and food photography, do you work on many different themes? Reportage photography is very close to my heart. I appreciate being able to capture stories as uninfluenced as possible. I accompany weddings mainly for my own pleasure. For me, there is hardly any other place where expectations, tension and financial obligations come together so intensely and usually dissolve - mostly positively - in a short time. With reportages, I let myself be guided by the story, which is different from my other photographic activities. The variety of different directions is important to me. They help me to gain a wealth of experience.
 
Did you teach yourself videography and where do you use it? As with photography, I taught myself videography, although YouTube and patient friends helped me a lot. At the moment, I mainly focus on filming in the food sector and supplementing my reportages.

Is food photography a niche or is there a lot of competition? Food photography was an important mainstay for me, especially during the coronavirus period, and during the lockdown I was able to photograph some exciting projects in my basement. As I really appreciate variety, I'm happy to be able to photograph more reportages and portraits again.

Why are you a SIYU member? I am lucky to have many wonderful photographers around me with whom I can exchange ideas about photography. I would like to intensify this exchange and have a trustworthy partner at my side, especially when it comes to legal issues. We are at a turning point with photography. I am curious to see how photography will combine with AI and what position the SIYU will take in this context.

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