Matt Stock picked up a camera at an early age. Growing up he had two passions: photography and science. After deviating from the traditional path and his original plan of becoming a doctor, he realized that his passion in life lay in photography and not medicine. Matt formally studied at the internationally renowned Miami Ad School on Miami Beach, Florida but as a life-long learner he has spent the past eight years developing his signature style of Painting with Light in the Dark®. This unique process was inspired by the Renaissance painting technique sfumatto, the photographic zone system, and other artists who have built careers developing techniques that fuse art and science. Matt’s knowledge of his craft, his technical learning and application, as well as his unique, innovative techniques make his photographs true works of art. His new innovations have been on the forefront of cutting edge trends in his field, leading his peers toward a new genre of photography. He is a real visionary who seamlessly weaves science and history into his art.

Matt describes his technique akin to “…sculpting with darkness as a medium. I chip away the shadows to reveal light and dimension the way a sculptor chips away at a block of marble to reveal the sculpture within.” On location, he literally paints his subjects with light whether he is lighting a shipwreck while balancing on a ladder in the middle of the ocean, or painstakingly lighting an abandoned marine stadium. Using multiple photos taken from a variety of angles with different lighting conditions, he combines the otherwise-similar images into a single luminous composition. A perfectionist by nature, he is able to perfectly expose and control every aspect of his final composition in a way that only a few photographers have learned how to do. 

Matt Stock was asked to speak about his unique technique and perspective on darkness at TEDx in Coconut Grove, a breakout event of the renowned TED Conferences held annually in California that bring inspired thinkers from the worlds of technology, entertainment and design together to learn from and further inspire others. He has been recognized by the photographic community having his images grace the cover of Portfolio Magazine as well as Shutterbug and has been juried into national art exhibitions and earning him several awards, including four Honorable Mentions in the prestigious International Photography Awards; three in 2007 and one in 2010. Matt was also one of three U.S. photographers selected for recognition in the 2014 International Color Awards Photography Masters Cup earning an Honorable Mention in the professional nature category.