Urban Observations

Edge of Humanity Magazine

8 months ago

Photographer Matthew Kennerley is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of these images. To see Matthew’s body of work, click on any photograph.

Over the past four years, I have been honing my photography skills to tell a story through what I see through the lens. This, I find, makes the difference between just someone with a good camera, and a photographer. I hear it all too often ‘your camera takes amazing photos’. My mission is to change this perception to question ‘wow, how did you know what to look for?’. I don’t know if I will achieve my goal, but let’s just say, it’s a work in progress. I try to adopt a reportage style of street photography, in that I prefer not to interrupt life, and take moments that are natural and unadulterated. This maybe comes more as a result of me being introverted in my nature and don’t want to draw any unnecessary attention to myself. That being said, I really enjoy talking to people with an interest in what I do. I also like to document things with honesty, even if they are subjects that may not normally be perceived as beautiful. 


Since the Covid pandemic I wanted to learn a new skill and try to master the art of street photography. It is one of the most difficult genres to capture due to constant fast-paced movement and changing environments. To give my objective some limitations, I decided to focus on black and white so that color didn’t become a distraction to what I set out to achieve. This, however, comes with its own challenges - the subjects need good contrast, great framing and most of all good use of light and shade. Most of these require me to use manual settings, instead of using the camera's auto functions. This, I find, adds to the enjoyment and gives me full control and a sense of creativity and accomplishment. 

Short Biography: 

Matthew is a Warwickshire based amateur photographer with a career as an Automotive Clay Sculptor for Aston Martin. 


Since an early age, Matthew has been interested in the art of photography, creativity, design and travel. This gives him an eye for proportion, both aesthetically pleasing subjects and subjects that question beauty, and to absorb and observe different environments and cultures since he has previously worked in numerous towns and cities in Europe. Matthew now particularly enjoys travelling to different cities in his leisure to find stories to document. He intends to further push his creativity in the future by building a UV light box to develop his own digital prints using the silver gelatin and platinum palladium techniques.

All images and text © Matthew Kennerley