Matt Cunningham is a multi-facited photographer, climber, and musician from Nashville, Tennessee. He does portraits, artistic shots, photos of the music scene, and, of course, climbing photography. Thank you Matt for sharing your talent with us and allowing us to get to know you a little better!
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Your story goes that you moved from Kansas to Nashville to play music. I think there are a few boulders in Kansas and a grain silo with climbing holds, but not much more. Where does climbing fit into all of this?
Yeah, there’s not much in Kansas. I was lucky growing up though, we had a 20-foot rock fireplace in my house that my grandpa built and my dad rigged up a towrope on it - so, we grew up with the idea of climbing. When I got older I got into parkour and buildering [climbing buildings] - climbing anything we could. There are also a couple small secret crags in Kansas that we found and maintained. We also drove through the night to climb in Colorado or Horseshoe Canyon Ranch in Arkansas. How are you liking Nashville and where do you climb the most?
Nashville is awesome. I’ve been here for almost eight years now and I love how centrally located it is. I can be at Foster Falls or Tennessee Wall in Chattanooga in a couple hours or make it to the Red River Gorge, Kentucky, or Looking Glass in North Carolina in half-a-day. It’s the best combination of the music world and climbing world you can get. |
Dakota Schwartz (IG: @dakotaschwartz17) on "Hidden Treasures" at Jackson Falls, Illinois. Photo Credit: Matt Cunningham
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Do you have a favorite location or style to climb? And, is that different from where you like to photograph climbing?
I personally love climbing multipitch stuff in the desert - Moab, Utah, and Red Rock Canyon, Nevada are my favorite places. I still haven’t taken many shots while doing multipitch climbs, mostly because I’m either enjoying the climb too much to take my camera out or it’s just me and another person and it’s hard to get shots with just two of us.
I really love shooting from above - showing that depth and angle and the emotion on the climber's face as they look up. Most people don’t get to see themselves at that view, so I enjoy capturing it. I love shooting at the Red River Gorge because or the wide range of climbing difficulty and how well everything is taken care of there. Also you can usually find a wall that isn’t very busy and I can stay out of people’s way when I’m taking photos.
I personally love climbing multipitch stuff in the desert - Moab, Utah, and Red Rock Canyon, Nevada are my favorite places. I still haven’t taken many shots while doing multipitch climbs, mostly because I’m either enjoying the climb too much to take my camera out or it’s just me and another person and it’s hard to get shots with just two of us.
I really love shooting from above - showing that depth and angle and the emotion on the climber's face as they look up. Most people don’t get to see themselves at that view, so I enjoy capturing it. I love shooting at the Red River Gorge because or the wide range of climbing difficulty and how well everything is taken care of there. Also you can usually find a wall that isn’t very busy and I can stay out of people’s way when I’m taking photos.
Maiza Lima (IG: @maizalimarock) on "Snozzerries" at the Red River Gorge, Kentucky. Photo Credit: Matt Cunningham
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Tell us about your background with photography. Did photography come before climbing and how does your photography intertwine?
Photography came from necessity in the music world; needing photos and music videos but not being able to afford them. After shooting my first couple music video on an iPhone, I was hooked. Eight years later, I just love the story-telling that photos give, capturing a moment in your life or a split second on the wall. Saving that moment captures everything around that time. When you see that photo, you see where you were emotionally, including your struggles and victories. In your creative work you have a lot of nudes. What do you think of Dean Fidelman’s Stone Nudes?
I love Dean’s work. Nudity, especially in nature, just heightens experiences for me. It makes you be in the moment and very aware of yourself and your surroundings. I’ve found that once you’re able to get past the idea that nudity is sexual, then the human body becomes more beautiful. Just like how I love capturing the detail and emotion from pictures of our faces, I love to capture the emotion and detail in the rest of the body. |
Jaron on "Rode Hard, Put up Wet" at Foster Falls, Tennessee. Photo Credit: Matt Cunningham
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Between music and photography are you making ends meet or do you have some other gigs going?
Man, I wish I could say I was making enough to do it full-time. I’m always progressing. I bartend here in Nashville a couple nights a week to bring in real money. It’s a really great gig with good money and flexible hours to allow me to pursue my passions of music, photography, and climbing. Honestly, I probably could do photography full-time if I wanted to, but my passion projects that I have planned are expensive and bartending is an easy way to fund them. What do you think of climbing photography compared to the other types of photography you do? Are you on a learning curve or was it a different learning curve?
I feel like once you understand photography with lighting, angles, and your photography equipment, climbing photography is basically the same. The ultimate difference is figuring out how to get the shot, including having the rigging gear and the knowledge about how to rig up in the location you want to shoot. This is actually one of the things that makes climbing photography so much more enjoyable - figuring out how to rig my rope so I’m hanging in the right spot and upping the craziness of taking pictures while suspended or on a cliff somewhere. |
Liv Victoriano (IG: @livvictoriano) on "Diamond Cutter" at Foster Falls, Tennessee. Photo Credit: Matt Cunningham
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Do you feel you have a climbing photography style? If so, how would you describe it and how is it similar to or different from your other photography?
Yeah, I feel like I tend to take medium-to-long distance shots in climbing versus medium-to-close-up shots in the rest of my photography.
In climbing I love to see the action, viewing the whole or most of the body of the climber. It gives you a real idea of the difficulty of the climb and shows the tension and emotion of the climber. Then, long distance shots give you the idea of the location of the climb, the surroundings, and what it feels like to climb in a particular spot. With the rest of my photography I love telling the human story; close ups of a face where you can see deep into someones eyes, or portrait shots giving you a good sense of who that person is.
Yeah, I feel like I tend to take medium-to-long distance shots in climbing versus medium-to-close-up shots in the rest of my photography.
In climbing I love to see the action, viewing the whole or most of the body of the climber. It gives you a real idea of the difficulty of the climb and shows the tension and emotion of the climber. Then, long distance shots give you the idea of the location of the climb, the surroundings, and what it feels like to climb in a particular spot. With the rest of my photography I love telling the human story; close ups of a face where you can see deep into someones eyes, or portrait shots giving you a good sense of who that person is.
Daniel Dunn (IG: @dldunn) on "Mrs. Socrates" on Tennessee Wall, Tennessee. Photo Credit: Matt Cunningham
Do you have any goals or visions you are working towards?
My current goals are working toward being more mobile with my income and diving into making documentaries. I shot my first documentary this last month and am really excited to see how it comes out. I already have a couple more in the works. The other thing I’m working on this year are some big climbing projects. This includes climbing The Glass Menagerie (5.13, 7 pitches) at Looking Glass in North Carolina at the end of April. I’m also trying to make it out to Red Rock Canyon, Nevada later this spring to get on Epinephine (5.9, 13 pitches).
My current goals are working toward being more mobile with my income and diving into making documentaries. I shot my first documentary this last month and am really excited to see how it comes out. I already have a couple more in the works. The other thing I’m working on this year are some big climbing projects. This includes climbing The Glass Menagerie (5.13, 7 pitches) at Looking Glass in North Carolina at the end of April. I’m also trying to make it out to Red Rock Canyon, Nevada later this spring to get on Epinephine (5.9, 13 pitches).
Erin Bartke (IG:@straysafe) on "Slabolisius" at Foster Falls, Tennessee. Photo Credit: Matt Cunningham
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What’s one thing you want our audience to know about you?
I love meeting people and making friends. If you see me out in the wild, please come say, "Hi!" My real passion is people. It’d be a pleasure to get to know you. Any last words?
Just an encouragement to learn and love. Always be open to learning and understanding the people and environment you’re around. The climbing and photography communities are typically filled with great people, but it only take a few people to ruin the experiences we all pursue. This includes packing-it-in and packing-it-out. There are so many cool places; let's leave them cool for everyone else. |
Cameron Horst (IG: @cameron_horst11) on "Golden Ticket"at the Red River Gorge, Kentucky. Photo Credit: Matt Cunningham
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Matt Cunnigham Contact
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