Meet Matthew fotomatt” Lit | Colorado Photographer & Educator”

We had the good fortune of connecting with Matthew “fotomatt” Lit and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Matthew “fotomatt”, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I’m not sure there was one, honestly! I had grown frustrated (for a number of reasons) working for newspapers. Upon my return from Israel in 1991 I had an opportunity to do contract work as a managing editor for a start-up 4-color publication. In the process I learned computer design and – more importantly – job costing, project management and a host of other skills.

After two years of that I spun those skills into A Lit Production, Inc. providing print design and photography creative solutions. I discovered I loved and was good at creating the multiple systems a company needs – from shipping and receiving, to marketing, to IT and purchasing.

While I didn’t start out with the intent of running my own company here I am 30-something years later realizing I did it successfully!

At the end of the day there was just something about having to answer to myself for successes and failures.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Photographing people has always been my strength and is the core of my vision. In the 90s after leaving photojournalism (so I thought!) I realized that strength had another aspect to it and that is my documentary approach. Real moments. For a time I was trying to do commercial shoots with overly-posed models. It was really stressful and that showed in the work.

On one particular clothing shoot I worked with a husband and wife model team. I set up a scenario where they were doing something and it allowed me to stand back and capture the real moments I was seeing. I knew at that point that no matter what type of photography I was doing I needed to stay true to my vision.

That became enforced not long after when I started doing fine art photography with a Holga toy plastic camera. Those create a vintage-looking image and I immediately started photographing old things. I went through roll after roll of film creating boring images. Then one day I photographed three young boys at a local circus. The image was my first success with this unique camera and went on to win a number of awards. Again, I realized it was my visual approach to photographing people that made it successful.

I also bring that approach to my dog photography and – while much of that IS posed – my favorite dog images are the ones that capture real moments.

As for how I got here professionally I feel like I’m still working at that! I am still learning and striving. I think that’s a key to success is to never be satisfied and always try to do better.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
First, I just love Colorado, New Mexico and the Southwest. I grew up a Boston Brat and my Dad was transferred to Arizona in 1973. I got my first taste of the West. After college I got my first “real” job with the Taos News and discovered the uniqueness of Northern New Mexico. And then…Colorado. I live in two unique places: the mountains west of Denver with a view of the Continental Divide and Crestone, with a view across the San Luis Valley and the Sangre de Cristo’s in my back yard.

Friends visiting presents a myriad of opportunities for recreation, food and drink! For recreation…well…just walk out my door and there’s miles of forest service trail and wilderness. There’s Dillon Reservoir for canoeing or a roadtrip west for multi-day canoe trips on various stretches of the Colorado and Green rivers.

Summit County has countless great restaurants though exposing people to great Mexican food is a no-brainer…not to mention I make an amazing Hatch Green Chile and love to cook and entertain. If you visit Crestone we’re heading to Taos for its amazing restaurants! Michael’s Kitchen for breakfast and Orlando’s for dinner!

And beer. I love microbrews and Colorado has no shortage of the quaff!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Peoria High School (AZ) teacher Ron Hildreth started me in photography. He had done classes with acclaimed photographer Willis Peterson and taught us the same curriculum. I left high school with a strong technical photography understanding. When I began teaching Basic Photo for Colorado Mountain College in 1996 I called Ron and he helped me build a curriculum based on that earliest model.

In college for photojournalism my work caught the eye of Gary O’Brien. He thankfully took me under his wing. His visual approach was a strong influence. I also learned some film processing tricks that allowed me to shoot in low light in ways I didn’t know were possible. That knowledge gave me quite an edge.

My first editor at the Taos News, Billie Blair, molded me into a strong journalist and writer. I wasn’t the easiest cub she’d ever trained and her patience and firmness with me left me with skills and journalistic integrity I’ve used every day since running my company.

Website: https://mattlitphoto.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coloradodogphoto

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattlitphoto

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MattLitPhoto

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikonfotomatt

Other: https://ColoradoDogPhotography.com https://linktr.ee/fotomatt

Image Credits
images © 1986-2022