Shorter days are coming.Everyone's about creative ideas to celebrate this dark season and grim weather in the most exciting way. That's certainly some kind of home turf for the Low Light League. One of its founders, MXMILIAN, visited us before. Today the next demon of Vienna's creative gang is dropping in at compagnon HQ:

"compagnon for inspiration" - Part 14

Mattsort

Short Bio

Mathias is the resident morning grouch with the Low Light League and he's known to be extremely organized. Everything is in it's bespoke place. If a key happens to be in a different pocket than usual he might be spending hours to search for it. All that energy needed for things like that comes from his enthusiasm for breakfast which he enjoys having all day round. Besides that power gained from coffee, pastry and corn flakes his passion for photography is the other big factor that keeps him going.

compagnon: Hi Mathias, if we knew you we're stopping by we could have gotten you some french croissants. Around 5:30pm. With time we found out that the first glance at someone's camera will tell a lot about them. Do you have a certain 'always on' lens? What kind of lens is essential to you?

Mattsort: Hey guys, that's alright. A kebap without chilies will do the trick... No need for me to ponder about that question. It's my 24mm f1.4 lens. This thing is an absolute allrounder for me and my kind of photography. That's the one.

compagnon: We obviously know your style and have several of your photos already. In an urban environment your preference towards wide angle lenses does make sense for sure. But you're not limited to shooting downtown. Between the two types of photographers, selective & picky or trigger-happy, where do you see yourself?

Mattsort: That's so true. With me, it couldn't be anymore different depending on the task. I think I tend to use the shutter in a rather selective way and make my shots count. But shooting a live concert you have to follow different rules. That's when I switch to continuous burst.

compagnon: Concerts are a rather specific kind of event to follow as a photographer, aren't they? Hardly any of our guests shoot these kind of events. Are there certain gigs, bands or music genres you cover? How did this opportunity come up? Are there unique challenges you don't face in different shoots?

Mattsort: The opportunity just presented itself one day and all I did was take it. My personal taste in music covers nearly all genres but from a photographer's perspective not all genres are ideal to work with. I like to show the action in my shots as these moments are beyond recall. Dealing with the lighting is a monumental task, too. You gotta work with dark halls and bright spot lights while having only one chance to get that shot. So you can imagine that I can hardly catch anything from the concert. That's not where my focus is.

compagnon: We've introduced you as one of the founders of the LowLightLeague. We're almost certain that only few of our readers or even your own don't really know too much about it. How do you run and use this feature hub? What's the main objective of the League? How did it start?

Mattsort: The LowLightLeague was created specifically for people that work along a certain style of photography, to give them a platform to show their work and share feedback. Over time this so-called feature page developed into a independent community. Now we're offering workshops and encourage our members to see their surroundings from a different perspective. Also the LLL is currently under metamorphosis but I can't tell you any more about it.

compagnon: That's a shame but we're still excited to see what happens. Vienna, Austria is your home base but you guys travel all over the globe. From an artistic perspective, which place is your favorite so far?

Mattsort: I'm certain any city does have beautiful spots that are visually attractive. But the one that I liked the most was Copenhagen.

compagnon: Copenhagen is highly coveted by creatives. Members of our team also love that city. Do you have insider recommendation which things not to miss when visiting Copenhagen with your camera? What about that city has won you over?

Mattsort: Copenhagen's simply brimming over with possibilities. All you have to do is get outside. When I was there I had no plan or list of all the spots to visit. If you keep your eyes open all the time you'll find something interesting all the time. Things that impressed me the most... The modern architecture and the hot dogs.

compagnon: Thanks for stopping by and sharing some insight in your work. Fall and winter season will certainly allow you and your mates at LowLightLeague to get even more great shots done in the coming weeks. Best of luck with your projects and all the best for developing your art continuously.

All images in this feature were provided by Mattsort. All images are under copyright restrictions. All rights reserved by Mattsort. Connect with Mathias on Instagram and Facebook

This interview is a translated version of the German original.