H
ad he been born in another century, Matthew
Sánchez might have been an explorer, a Mungo
Park or Richard Burton. His love of travel, curios-
ity and sensitivity to the subtle beauty of the natural world
fuels his passion for photography, for recording moments
in time, and propel him into excursions around the globe.
“I like capturing scenes, very natural scenes,” Sánchez
said. “I’m not so much a portrait photographer. There are
plenty of people who do that and who are probably better
at it than me. I like landscapes or scenes with people just
going about their business. When I do that, it’s like I get
lost in a trance. It helps me relax.”
Sánchez, born in Orange, California, grew up in Fort
Worth and lived a couple of years in Weatherford where
he did some work for a local media outlet. Asked how he
became a shutterbug, he talked about mom.
“I just picked up an old camera and started shooting
on the old 35 mm film,” he said. “I actually borrowed
mom’s camera and about fourteen years ago went to
Europe and the Middle East and started shooting. I got that
travel ‘bug’ and have been shooting ever since.”
And the shots are compelling, loaded with color
and bits of everyday life made to stand still for our artis-
tic enjoyment: An Asian woman soaked by rain beams
beneath her bamboo hat appointed with chartreuse tufts.
She bends over her produce, every wet wrinkle in her
clothing visible, rain drops frozen mid-fall. Simple joy in
life. In another, Moroccan boys and their shadows chase
a soccer ball across an aqueous beach reflecting a gold
and lavender sky, the sun’s image brilliant in sky and
wet sand. A moment of the boys’ antics and emotions is
captured, chosen to live on in Sánchez’s image. In a third
photo, the Taj Mahal looms large, bulbous and ornate
before a group of women and children who appear lost
in awe — all of them except the woman on the end who
turned to see the photographer as he tripped the shutter.
Sánchez’s compositions are colorful without being
garish or oversaturated. The light is skillfully controlled
as it enters his camera. He is a field man, preferring to be
afoot in wild or exotic environs, taking his shots rather
than ensconced behind a stodgy desk. He’d rather spend
hours peering through the camera lens than staring at
a computer screen while using high-dollar software to
produce the photo the photographer could have taken in
the field.
“I actually enjoy digital editing a little bit, but I’m kind
of leery of over-editing. That’s not to my taste. My edit-
ing process is very short — I do a few tweaks to it, like
dodging and burning,” he said. “But I enjoy sitting at the
computer and having a cold beer while looking over the
photos and seeing what I’m satisfied with and maybe what
I can improve on. So I enjoy the whole process of modern
photography. ”
He stressed “modern” photography because he remem-
bers as a kid starting out on 35mm film, and the expense
associated with developing and printing pictures. “Like
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