On the difficulties of being a new staff photographer. (1 min. 9 sec.)
Matt Lee at Niagara Falls, a self-portrait he sent attached to one of his emails.
How the camera changes people's behavior and knowing when to insist on the less dramatic but more truthful image. (1 min. 55 sec.)

 

On Sunday, March 25, I met Matt at the Boston Globe offices. I got there just as he had to leave to cover the aftermath of an apartment fire in Marlborough from the night before. As he drove, I videotaped and asked him a few questions. It's traffic noise you hear in the background of the audio clips.

Matt has been at the Globe about a year. He is one of only about three new staff photographers hired in the past 10 years - a testament to his skills as a photojournalist. Previously he worked at the Miami Herald and at a paper in Long Beach (sorry, I forgot the name..) He started out at art school at San Francisco State College studing film, but then switched to art photography since it seemed a less expensive practice. His ambition was to work for National Geographic and travel the world. In his art photography classes he found himself gravitating towards a photojournalistic style, although still with an eye for the artistic.

At the Globe he shoots mostly sports but, like everyone else, he also gets sent out to do general assignments like this one.

See my short video of clips of Matt and other photographers at the scene of the aftermath of the Marlborough fire.

Go to the next page to listen to two more audio clips and to see the photo Matt shot as it appeared in the newspaper.