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PHOTOGRAPHY
"His [Matt's] own photographs are fabulous"
Pete Townshend 'Who I Am' 2012
BACKGROUND
Between 1988 and 2006 I worked for Pete Townshend of The Who. Before that I never really even picked up a camera. I did do evening classes at school but that was more to meet girls in the darkroom than anything more creative! However, working for Pete and going on tour with The Who really opened my eyes to the possibilities of a career in music photography. Technically I was quite poor but still managed to get compositions which made me feel that I could get better and become a half decent photographer.
In mid 2006 I found myself without a job. Without having any plans I thought about working on music photography full time. I bought some new equipment on hire purchase, got some gigs and signed up with a small agency. When I got enough images for a portfolio I emailed the bosses at WireImage (now part of Getty Images) and told them that I thought I would fit in with their brand. To my surprise they agreed and I went on to shoot regularly for the Getty sub-brands Wireimage and Redferns. I shot for those until 2015 when a couple of operations brought my career to a halt. Getty Images still own the licensing rights to a number of my images.
Although I no longer shoot regularly I am always interested in working with artists and PRs. If you might be interested in me shooting your band live or in the studio please contact me below. I've included a small gallery of images below but if you have a particular artist who you would like to see, who isn't shown please let me know and I will see if I have any images. I also sell exclusive prints in my shop.
Below is a tiny example of my work.
![Classic Quadrophenia live DEVD. Cover photography Matt Kent](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/df6d9e_e90ed0ead72f46e2b2e61adf0571dc1e~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_333,h_500,al_c,q_80,enc_auto/s-l500.jpg)
![Matt Kent photo of P J Harvet in The Observer newspaper](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/df6d9e_1ff695367dfa4ac38ee357e63d0dcf0d~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_305,h_352,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/1299425697-pjsmall-observer.jpg)
![Matt Kent photo of Primal Scream in The Times newspaper](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/df6d9e_eeba676ad98a49a0b09d69c0347e8c88~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_207,h_284,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/1299425732-primalscream-times.jpg)
![Matt Kent cover photo on NME of The Strokes.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/df6d9e_e769b79294df4000ae62ab2dc2768de5~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_339,h_466,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/1279215735-strokesnmesmallweb.jpg)
![Matt Kent photo of Sting in the New York Times](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/df6d9e_970344ec679644289cc3fc4dd2159c25~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_305,h_455,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/1305309924-nypoststingsmallsting.jpg)
![Matt Kent photo of Rihanna in Heat Magazine](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/df6d9e_420dadf54f4b49a59567d1dd4fa9540b~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_337,h_220,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/1319460783-rihannaheat.jpg)
![Matt Kent photo of cricketer Freddie Flintoff in the Guardian](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/df6d9e_376082814d3e449b8264693dd18c3672~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_207,h_289,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/1319460730-cricketguardian.jpg)
![Matt Kent photo of Paul McCartney in the Observer newspaper](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/df6d9e_864569b9ef8546e395d510384750abc7~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_384,h_282,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/1262352963-mccartney-observer-271209.jpg)
![Matt Kent collage of Adele at the Brit Awards](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/df6d9e_df4f528f113446198f878343f250d403~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_273,h_202,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/1330952442-brits2012photosite.jpg)
![Magazine covers - Matt Kent photos of Pete Townshend and Keith Richards](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/df6d9e_71a1a5c34b6343ed9acbb6a6b5a5d8de~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_333,h_231,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/PT%20Guitar%20mag.jpg)
Contact
I'm always looking for new and exciting opportunities. Contact me if interested.