Before his work in pond design, Tim Matson was an award-winning photographer and story teller. This new website offers a look at Matson's early work, much of it never seen.

The Covid lockdown inspired the site, Matson says. "I couldn't go out and meet clients and I had time on my hands." Matson did something he'd been thinking about for years: revisit his photos from the Sixties and Seventies, which were in storage. "I felt like it was time for this work to see the light of day, to show for the first time. Being a technophobe I was hesitant to try a scanner, but it was the only way to bring back the photos. After some fits and starts I got the hang of scanning and the results blew me away. It was like looking at the work of a different person. I'd forgotten all the places I'd been. Cool places, amazing times. Sometimes you don't recognize a good shot until years later."

Matson learned photography in the Army. He worked on a newspaper at Ft Bragg, trained with Leica photographers, and wrote stories and developed shots during long stints in the darkroom. After the Army he moved to New York, worked in publishing, then moved to Vermont. He bought a farm, built a homestead, made beer and wrote an acclaimed book about brewing. He worked as a photographer with the Pilobolus Dance Theatre, published a prize winning book about the company, then began a long career as a pond designer.

All the while he was taking pictures "street style" and stashing them away, unseen. "I was on assignment for myself, for sheer pleasure of shooting."

"The pictures capture a fascinating time in our history, public and private.” Matson plans to add more photos, and excerpts from his books and stories, some out of print, some unpublished.

Visit the Shop for details about purchasing photographic prints, books, and links.

Photographs and Text © Tim Matson 1978, 2020 all rights reserved.