Artist of inspiration and my focus

Matt Doheny is a Los Angeles-based professional photographer with over 20 years of experience, specializing in fashion, editorial portraiture, commercial/advertising, and lifestyle photography. His intent is to push creative boundaries in studio work, transforming ordinary portraits into bold, high-energy visual statements. Through innovative lighting setups, such as his signature three-colored shadows technique using red, green, and blue lights to create vibrant, multicolored shadow effects via additive color mixing, Doheny conveys a message of dynamic energy, illusion, and heightened glamour. This approach celebrates fashion’s theatrical side, making subjects appear larger-than-life and infusing images with a surreal, almost dreamlike vibrancy that challenges conventional portrait norms.

Across his portfolio, Doheny’s style is defined by high-key lighting, saturated bold color palettes, precise studio control, and dramatic creative lighting. He frequently employs multi-colored gels and shadows for illusory depth, sharp focus on models with clean backgrounds, and a fashion-forward composition that emphasizes wardrobe, pose, and attitude. Techniques like long-exposure elements (where applicable) and intricate light sculpting add movement and ethereal quality, resulting in lively, high-impact images.

I chose Doheny because his fearless experimentation with color and light deeply inspires me, particularly how he turns shadows into vibrant artistic features rather than mere absences. His work motivates me to adopt high-key bright colors, long-exposure techniques for motion blur, and multi-colored lighting setups in my own experiments. For this project exploring subcultural identity of modern youth, and I’ll creatively represent the dynamic culture—energy, style, and unique fashion—by applying these bold, colorful portrait elements.

All four photographs above demonstrate his choice of eye-catching color, stylish postures, and intentional use of shadow

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