Scan through the crowd at the last job fair at Hofstra University and chances are you won't find Matt Clark chatting up any of the recruiters. That's probably because he was on his way back from his second trip to Hawaii, stoked on the barrels he scored and constantly reminded of the thief who stole more than $4000 worth of his equipment. Shrugging off the theft as a fact of life, Matt will probably tell you that what bothers him the most is that some guy is looking at pictures of his girlfriend. Not one to dwell in the past, one quickly gets the sense that he is busy scouring the online classifieds and auctions for new equipment, while at the same time quietly plotting his next surf trip. Today there is no room in Corporate America for Matt Clark.

"I loved surfing Hawaii but I really went on that trip as a photographer more than a surfer. I had some sick little tubes one morning at Ehukai. I also got two tubes at Pipe that were rad," Matt recalls. "Overall the trip was so much fun. The last time I went to the North Shore we got a solid 4-8ft Hawaiian swell, which was probably around 12-15 foot faces, but top to bottom barrels. That was pretty amazing, but this time, wow!

"The sickest memory I will ever have is of waves that I didn't surf while on this trip. We had been doing something else in the middle of the afternoon – can't recall what exactly because my mind melted by what I experienced on the beach. I pulled up to Pipe and ran from the car to the beach because there was only about forty-five minutes of sunlight left. I hurried up the path and saw the most messed up, epic, scary, perfect thing I have ever seen. Honestly, I can't really explain it. It was as if every other time I had seen Pipe in person it was real heavy and spitting and just sick. But this time, minutes lasted forever. Everything just slowed down, and everyone on the beach just sat there, in awe. Hardly anyone clapped at the end of people’s rides. It was as if a light switch turned on and I finally saw why the North Shore was so special. Aside from that there were plenty of crazy stories as there usually are with the crew I travel with."

In addition to his two trips to Hawaii, Matt has also surfed and shot Puerto Rico, Mexico, Costa Rica and up and down the East Coast. "I love Puerto Rico, that place is a gold mine for the real surfer, not for people who want to hang out in Rincon, drink beers in the middle of the day, and surf crowded Domes. There is a whole Island with epic surf. I've surfed some places completely alone that were just going off. Shooting photos there - not as easy. I think with a water-housing that place would be great. Mexico is pretty gnarly and not too difficult to shoot. It's difficult to surf if you are scared of double overhead monsters. Costa Rica...well I only had a crap 50mm lens or something and I barely left the place we stayed."

Flash Back a few months prior to his "moment at Pipe", as he was wrapping up his final semester at Hofstra, and one can only imagine the dinner time conversations in the Clark household. The son of a Con Ed couple (and grandson of a Con Ed employee), Matt Clark was born in Elmhurst, NY, and divided his early childhood and adolescent years between Astoria and Merrick. His parents divorced when he was 8 years old, and his Mom eventually remarried (another Con Ed guy) and moved into a small suburban home with "mustard walls and a pink carpet." With one brother, one half-brother from his mother's second marriage, and a step-brother and step-sister from his step-father's previous marriage, space got a little tight from time to time. "For a while we would sleep in the basement of my mom's house. There were two bunk beds for us, and my half-brother would actually sleep in a closet converted to room next to my parents room," Matt recalls. "I swear, that closet was no bigger than six foot by six foot."

Spending much of his teenage years traveling back and forth from Long Island to Queens in order to spend time with his father brought a sense of isolation to Matt, who considered himself a loner through most of teenage years. Through that isolation he developed a burning ambition to excel at each endeavor, meeting his challenges head-on yet remaining ever-mindful and appreciative of whatever help he received along the way. He was the first in his family to learn to surf and, perhaps even more impressive, the first in his family to graduate college - and with that degree, the first to carry the enormous burden to succeed in the corporate world. Although he's not immune to the occasional "get a real job" jab, he remains focused on his mission to succeed and committed to developing his skills as a multifaceted photographer.

There are more than enough hurdles for a young college graduate living in New York, most of which involve financial security, or lack thereof, and to a surf photographer that means no big glass. Currently, his longest lens is a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM which can leave quite a bit of frame to fill. "I have hundreds and hundreds of photos of really amazing waves that no one has seen because there is no human or backdrop element in it so it's boring to me," Matt says. "I find myself getting tired of the same old shots from the dunes now. It's just too easy, so I need to incorporate something else into it. Changing your perspective can create the most beautiful image." In fact, Matt's trademark shots almost always involve some sort of human interaction. Whether it's a surfer paddling out in front of a shelving A-frame or a freight train of a left that reels through an urban landscape, each photo allows your eyes to slow down and absorb his refreshingly unique angles and composition.

Matt knew his path was going to be a little different than most surfers when he returned from his first trip to the North Shore with fourteen rolls of film. "The shots I had when I came home just blew my mind," Matt recalls. "Epic photos of Pipeline going off - for sure that’s when I was hooked." Already enrolled in Film Study at Hofstra, he started with film to learn the basics, switched to shooting 100% digital and is now gradually moving back towards film again - recently purchasing a Mamiya RB67. "I realized one day while editing a digital photo that all I was trying to do was make it look like film. I learned a lot from digital and having the ability to take four hundred photos per session, but I also realized that I was very sloppy and that if I move back to film, I'll think about the shot before I press the shutter. Brian Nevins once said to me: 'guys like you and I are single frame mentality people and one thing I've learned, being so poor, is it's not the camera, it's the eye behind it.' It's not the camera that needs to learn how to take a photo. If you're not getting the photo it's your fault. Digital and Film are just canvases for the artist behind the lens, two different mediums that result in very different outcomes."

Longtime friend and partner-in-crime, Bob Baldwin has watched and supported Matt's photography, regularly featuring his photos on Baldwin's long-running local website (www.nybodyboarding.com). "Matt is a talented guy on many different levels. Whether it's art, creative writing, or most recently photography, Matt has always had that certain "something" that you're either born with or you're not. His photos seem to improve with each batch, and I'm always looking forward to what he'll capture next. It's really amazing how quickly he's advanced his craft, and he's only just getting started. Look for big things from Matt in the years to come."

Matt cites Nick Brandt, Seth Stafford, Tim Jones, Chris Straley, Jack English and Dustin Humphrey (although he maintains a 'thumbs down' review for 'Sipping Jetstreams') among his many influences, but true to his roots, he reserves his accolades for local photographers Mike Nelson and Snapwater as well as New England's Brian Nevins. "Mike Nelson made me want to take photos better and travel throughout the Northeast. He knows where and when to go, and if you see him in Jersey then you know Jersey was the call that day. I only just met him over the summer and he's as nice and humble as you hope everyone that you look up to would be," Matt says. "I'd say my style of photography is much more like Brian Nevins, whom I also look up to enormously. He has put in so many good words for me and helped me out so much. I'm always waiting for another batch of his shots to come out. Tom (Snapwater) also has been a huge help for me to get my foot in the door. He is one of the smartest guys I've talked to about surfing. He has this way of putting things that just gets me so stoked, and is a huge player in surf photography in New York. Without him I wouldn't have had a shot published yet."

Mike Nelson had a few opportunities to shoot with Matt this past year and was impressed with his level of professionalism and natural ability. "I really think he has what it takes to be one of the best surf photographers in the world, if he commits to it. He always seems to come up with that unique angle and lighting combo that makes you pissed off that you missed those waves. For me that has always been the hard part, but for him it seems to come naturally. If he puts 100% into it, ten years from now he will be mentioned in the same group as Chang, Aichner, Servais, and Dustin Humphries. Basically, Matt will be one of the elite."

With this crew in your corner, it shouldn't come as much of a shock when he ranks New Jersey among his favorite places to surf and shoot. "That place is a surf trip in itself," he says (laughing). "I think shooting in the Northeast is different for every photographer. For someone who is shooting with a 600mm lens, I feel like it won't be as difficult because you don't really see anything but the surfer and what they are doing. Someone like me who has stayed away from long lens photography may find it more difficult because lacking focal length means you have to make up for it with something else to fill your frame.

Anyone can really stand on the beach and jump in the dunes and get a great shot of an empty peak, I see them all the time by people with point and shoots. There is a huge movement because of digital photography and just about anyone can get the shot now. If you want to stand out you need to be different. What's so amazing about the Northeast is how different it is than the rest of the world. The architecture, the solidarity, the water color, the snow! It's unreal. If you're willing to pull the weight of the photographer and be creative, then the Northeast is a playground of opportunities."

For more information on Matt Clark and to view more of his work, please visit http://www.myspace.com/newyorksurfphotography

All photos courtesy of Matt Clark. Special thanks to Mike Nelson of Unsound and Bob Baldwin of NYBodyboarding.com for their contributions.