PHOTOGRAPHER | Mason X Mata

Mason X Mata specialises in film and digital photography, as well as Super8 and 16mm film, and is based between Vancouver Island, Squamish, and Costa Rica. She characterises her style as candidly editorial with a touch of romantic humour. Mason X Mata has photographed a wide variety of ceremonies and celebrations, embracing traditions from around the globe.

Tell us about your business!  

I’m Mason Neufeld (she/her). I’ve been documenting weddings full time for 13 years. I chose this as my  lifelong career, boldly, at the age of 17. My business is me, a deeply personal expression of my art, in  collaboration with lovers. I speak English and Spanish and am of a Cree (Indigenous) family lineage. It is very important to me to bring an energy that encourages all peoples to let their true colours shine, to  unmask, to feel completely safe and heard.

First and foremost: All love stories are told here, LGBTQIA2S+ affirming, BIPOC lives matter, Disability visibility.

Where are you based?  

I am based in coastal British Columbia, Canada for most of the year, and Monteverde, Costa Rica from  December through April.

Do you travel for weddings?  

Often! I am magnetized to coastal BC and Central America, but I am here to tell the story of the couple I am commissioned by. Immersing myself in their world and the spaces that they feel at home and the most comfortable to celebrate is always a thrill. I am available anywhere in the world (unfortunately excluding the USA due to current border limitations).

How would you describe your style?  

I want my wedding photographs to feel like artfully crafted paintings depicting raw unbounded emotions; cheek-to-cheek smiles, double chin grins, ugly-cries, skipping through fields of wildflowers. My style is bright and colourful and unafraid of vibrant expression. Wedding photographs will be viewed for hundreds of years by hundreds of people through generations. I consider those future viewers when I choose  my bright blue sky bubble gum tones, the nostalgia they might feel, a sort of longing almost infused with sadness. I think it’s a beautiful juxtaposition to present those future generations with images that dance with life and shameless joy.

What inspires you?  

I am educated as a visual artist, weaving my love of painting into my photography. I love to imagine that analog film is the closest photography can become to painting, as I mix a full palette of colour into my images through the chemical process, choosing my film stocks and camera settings to stroke true to tone and vivacious painterly hues.  

Before I could form full sentences I wandered alone through wild northern woodlands with a sketchbook and paints in tow. At the age of 11 I was gifted a small camera. Vast prairie skies alive with thunder and aurora danced before my lens. I am of a Cree family lineage and hold animist world beliefs. Nature is my source of inspiration, my art is infused with animacy.  

Weddings are an art form in every way. They are an orchestra of timing and light and people interacting with spaces, each detail telling a story. I haven’t found another creative commission that demands me to not  only archive visual spectacles, but to be present in the emotions felt in each fleeting moment. They activate every bit of my artists brain, and honestly, they are quite addicting.

How would you describe your working style? 

Documentary infused with editorial portraiture.  

I am adaptable. I like to be present, at times an active participant of the celebration, bouncing off of the energy around me, and other times a non disruptive fly on the wall to capture candids. If the vision includes time for editorial portraiture, I thrive. I was once told that my energy while documenting weddings is like ‘a calming yoga instructor meets your biggest hype girl’ and I’d agree that to be the most accurate depiction of my personality.

Do you shoot digitally, on film or both?  

I have an affinity for analog film, but I offer both digital and film photography, as well as Super8 and  16mm analog video.

Do you have custom packages according to individual needs?  

Yes! I have base packages and curate customized quotes tailored to each individual couples vision. I love the process of collaboration; listening and asking questions, creating an intimate environment to  allow full comfortability in sharing how I can best document love languages, noting every detail and  photographing them in their best light, dipping into my decade-aged toolbox of techniques to craft a  gallery that feels truly ‘custom’.

What is a favourite product or service that you offer and why?  

Wedding week and multi-day destination wedding packages. I love to join in on the festivities, to get to know the family and loved ones, to immerse myself in what it feels like to be a part of a couple’s inner circle and to feel grounded in the space they’ve chosen to celebrate. The galleries that come from an experience like that feel extra personal.

Where would you love to travel to for work?  

Anywhere exploding with colour. Peru, Mexico City, Morocco, India, New Zealand in spring. But  honestly, the place that inspires me most is wherever my couple feels most inspired and at home.

Mason X Mata

Website: www.masonxmata.com  

Instagram: @masonxmata