16. #TSPSP16 Matt Holyoak on Photographing the Royals, Honest Portrait Photography & Running Your Own Studio.

"Never Stop Learning How to Learn.”
Matt Holyoak

Matt Holyoak (www.mattholyoak.com | Instagram: @mattholyoak) is one of our most influential photographers, renowned throughout the world for his captivating portraiture.
In his formative years, Matt studied his subjects through drawing and painting portraits and later evolved his creative expression from fine art to photography and film.
His career has been enriched by meeting many remarkable personalities along his journey - capturing authentic stories of those women and men who leave their mark on the world. His subjects range from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to Kanye West to Jennifer Lawrence to Spike Lee.
Matt has developed a style and aesthetic of strength and elegance that's shared across both his studio and location photography. His work has been featured in Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, Interview, The Times, L'Uomo Vogue, Rolling Stone and GQ, among others.
His passion and talent for conceptual creativity extends to working with the world's leading creative agencies, creating advertising campaigns for brands in the entertainment, luxury, lifestyle, beauty, sport and fashion industries.
A career defining moment for Matt was being commissioned by Buckingham Palace, to photograph the official portraits for HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Phillip Duke of Cambridge, in celebration of their 70th Wedding Anniversary. The success of these portraits led to a further commission, this time by Kensington Palace, to photograph the official portraits for Prince Louis of Cambridge's christening.
Matt also dedicates his time to charity work and has worked on campaigns including Cancer Research, Children In Need, Haiti, RNLI, and White Ribbon. The success of his most recent campaign for MQ, a mental health research charity, awarded him the honour of an ambassadorship, in recognition of his commitment to help eradicate mental illnesses in young people.
As the official photographer for BAFTA film awards, Matt marks the achievements of the most revered actors and filmmakers of our era through a series of portraits publicised in GQ Magazine.
Matt’s love and obsession with film has led him to create a portraiture book, which features the legendary film directors of our era – including Richard Attenborough, Danny Boyle, Catherine Hardwick, Sam Mendes, Alan Parker, Ken Loach and Kimberly Pearce. Each portrait is prefaced with a personal story written about them by there most respected confidant.
A native of England, he lives and works from his studio in London, New York and Los Angeles.

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Follow Matthew:

Instagram: instagram.com/matthewdawalker

Twitter: twitter.com/matthewdawalker