THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 23, 1994 TAG: 9410200163
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 20 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Mary Ellen Riddle
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
Photographer Ray Matthews has dedicated the last 24 years of his life to commercial and fine art photography with a special emphasis on Outer Banks landscapes.
Matthews' dedication to both the art and craft of his medium separates his landscapes from the stacks of beach sunrises, dune shots and swaying sea oats that fill many an amateur photo album.
Careful study of his work reveals subtleties and intricacies inherent in any serious chronicle. He achieves this depth of content by maintaining a symbiotic relationship with nature.
Nature provides the inspiration; Matthews provides the dedication.
Patience and vigilance play a major role in pictorial success for the 44-year-old Nags Head photographer. Living on the Outer Banks since the early '70s has helped Matthews nurture an understanding of his surroundings and their ever-changing state.
``I've lived here a long time, so I'm pretty aware of what the light is doing at what time of day and where, and how the wind affects the water,'' he said.
It is not unusual for Matthews to wait weeks for the sky to do something interesting to match the beauty of a particular field of sea oats. And he uses patience, rather than fast shutter speed, to capture lightning on film.
``You use a time exposure and wait for it,'' Matthews said.
It would be sacrilegious to divide a Matthews print into background or foreground areas, for they are inseparable. One may at first be seduced by a sky filled with cobalt blues, transparent yellows, golds and browns, to later notice a grayish misty rain being chased across the horizon by a stiff wind.
But it's through Matthews' careful use of contrast that the saturated colors enhance rather than control, giving the photograph an overall harmony. As Matthews records his natural surroundings, he also creates artistic statements. His aerial views of Oregon Inlet painfully depict the shoals and channels that line the treacherous passage. But they also appear as gorgeous, floating, transparent brown, green, and blue textural strokes - seductive as the mythological Sirens.
With the influx of point-and-shoot cameras, you don't have to be a professional photographer to achieve colorful scenes. But many shutterbugs are surprised when the alizarin, crimson and tangerine-flushed sky they photographed doesn't look the same on film.
Matthews, who is primarily self-taught, says his chemistry background and a course in still photography offered by the physics department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill gave him a better technical understanding of his medium.
``The chemistry labs made the darkroom work less intimidating,'' he said. The physics class emphasized light and chemistry.
Today, Matthews controls the entire process, from shooting the slide through developing, mounting, printing, matting, framing and selling the finished product.
His sales are not confined to galleries; a large body of his work is commercial in nature. Rental brochures illustrating 50 house exteriors, magazines peddling Outer Banks crafts, and countless commercial brochures are all enhanced by Matthews' photography.
This year, a slide Matthews shot nearly a decade ago appeared on the cover of the Outer Banks Magazine. The capturing of this image embodies Matthews' philosophy on photography.
``The craft of photography is being able to get on film what you picture in your mind,'' he said. ``The art of photography is being open to what you can discover.''
Matthews was on Ocracoke Island shooting a colony of terns with a telephoto lens so he wouldn't disturb their nesting sites. A group of children came walking through the colony with towels over their heads. ``The birds dive bomb your head, and screech and fly right at you,'' said Matthews.
As the kids walked through with their protective headgear, the birds flew off. ``The kids turned out to be the best picture of the day,'' said Matthews. The dream-like, pastel-colored image, depicting youthful expressions and slow, ethereal motion brought about high magazine sales, according to editor Angel Ellis Khoury.
Matthews succeeds in balancing the quest for a salable shot and the desire for artistic excellence.
``No matter how much commercial work I do, I'm always going to do the gallery prints,'' Matthews said.
His work can be seen at the Island Gallery in Manteo, Duck Blind Gallery, Browning Artworks in Frisco, and at Penguin Isle Restaurant. You can also call his studio at (919) 441-7941. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARY ELLEN RIDDLE
Photographer Ray Matthews of Nags Head uses time exposure and
patience to capture lighting on film.
by CNB