Matt Rains - Photographer
Matt Rains carries the knowledge and experience of multiple lives merged into one human being. He grew up on a ranch in Montana under the early requirements of hard work and appreciation for a job well done.
He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point which instilled the strong foundation of leadership and an unwaiverable requirement for excellence. Flying the UH-60 Blackhawk in the US Army for six years greatly enhanced the mechanical and situational awareness. At the same time, as a military officer, he shouldered significant responsibility and planning skills before the age of 25. After a one-year deployment to Iraq, he left the military in 2009 to pursue new challenges tethered to no organization.
Travel and photography unexpectedly, but very permanently became his way of life from then on. Matt completely self taught himself photography with a relentless push every single day to discover something new about photography whether behind the camera, about theory, or on post-processing. After years of discovering the truth behind how the world runs not by reading the news, but by walking the streets with camera in hand, evolution into applied documentaries was a natural transition.
Humanitarian documentaries appeal for the way they allow a photographer to dig deeper into reality and touch the heart and soul of people living in situations the world for the most part understands very little about. Endless satisfaction exists between the process of discovering, capturing, presenting, and ultimately teaching others the Truth of the World.