Matt Steffen • Photographer

  • Home
  • Matt Steffen • Photographer

Matt Steffen • Photographer photography by matt steffen

After two weeks of heading west, we pointed our headlights back home. We were amazed by the cooling pulverized gypsum of...
13/07/2026

After two weeks of heading west, we pointed our headlights back home. We were amazed by the cooling pulverized gypsum of White Sands National Park, walked along a path of thousand-year-old drawings at the Three Rivers Petroglyph site, and caught a glimpse of how people drove a hundred years ago along Route 66, seeking the same thing we went for. To see what was there.

This place, these united states, is amazing. From Memphis to Fort Worth we swam through a sea of soccer jerseys, travelers of every accent experiencing what our home has to offer. Their excitement was infectious. They made us see a little more clearly what we've been looking past, blinded by presumptions and politics.

Turn off your tv, go outside, wave to you neighbors, share some brisket. Find that the same people live 2,000 miles west of you.

Before leaving Oklahoma, we stopped by Okemah, birthplace and final resting site of Woody Guthrie. His songs were the perfect soundtrack for the day. True as when they were written, which I guess means we still have some work to do.

"As I went walking I saw a sign there,
And on the sign it said 'No Trespassing.'
But on the other side it didn't say nothing.
That side was made for you and me."

After two weeks of heading west, we pointed our headlights back home. We were amazed by the cooling pulverized gypsum of...
13/07/2026

After two weeks of heading west, we pointed our headlights back home. We were amazed by the cooling pulverized gypsum of White Sands National Park, walked along a path of thousand-year-old drawings at the Three Rivers Petroglyph site, and caught a glimpse of how people drove a hundred years ago along Route 66, seeking the same thing we went for. To see what was there.

This place, these united states, is amazing. From Memphis to Fort Worth we swam through a sea of soccer jerseys, travelers of every accent experiencing what our home has to offer. Their excitement was infectious. They made us see a little more clearly what we've been looking past, blinded by presumptions and politics.

Turn off your tv, go outside, wave to you neighbors, share some brisket. Find that the same people live 2,000 miles west of you.

Before leaving Oklahoma, we stopped by Okemah, birthplace and final resting site of Woody Guthrie. His songs were the perfect soundtrack for the day. True as when they were written, which I guess means we still have some work to do.

"As I went walking I saw a sign there,
And on the sign it said 'No Trespassing.'
But on the other side it didn't say nothing.
That side was made for you and me."

I read about Marfa when I was a kid. One of those Scholastic Book Club offerings that I couldn't get enough of, the ones...
13/07/2026

I read about Marfa when I was a kid. One of those Scholastic Book Club offerings that I couldn't get enough of, the ones filled with UFO's, cryptids, and strange goings on. I'd be lying if I told you I hadn't thought to include West Texas on this trip to scratch that childhood itch.

We found a tiny town in a wide-open desert, filled with art, amazing food, and kind faces. We gallery hopped, slept in James Dean's room at The Hotel Paisano, and ate all the tacos we could find.

I don’t understand how people live in these places. Not for the views or the community, but simply the unbelievable sun ...
11/07/2026

I don’t understand how people live in these places. Not for the views or the community, but simply the unbelievable sun pelting, under a magnifying glass, in a convection oven feeling that hits you when you step outside. There was no way to prepare for a heat index of 125+. Texans were issued heat warnings, it must be serious.

That being said, it was impossible to drive through this landscape and not risk a mild searing if only to try to capture the intense grandeur. Endless desert mountain vistas hiding signs of people who tried to scratch out a spot and the resilience of nature taking it back.

I don’t think I truly understood country music until I drove through West Texas. A little slower, a little sad, longing and arduous. Pairs well with Hermanos Gutiérrez

Spotted a Mexican black bear from camp the last night in Big Bend National Park. Always astounding to see these creature...
11/07/2026

Spotted a Mexican black bear from camp the last night in Big Bend National Park. Always astounding to see these creatures in the wild, until it's time to zip up the flap and try your hardest to sleep through the rustling and twig snaps.

Everything is bigger in Texas, so the saying goes. Some cliches live up to the hype. We drove from Dallas to Big Bend Na...
10/07/2026

Everything is bigger in Texas, so the saying goes. Some cliches live up to the hype.

We drove from Dallas to Big Bend National Park - nine and a half hours of wide open landscape. We rolled by a couple clusters of buildings and a few fields of drilling equipment. Once passed Midland, it gets sparce. You keep a more concerned eye on the fuel gauge.

Winding through a sun drenched desert on a two lane road, you couldn't help but to be in awe. Then we pulled into the park itself. Unbelievable beauty. As a reminder of what you've gotten yourself into, signs reading "expect self-rescue."

I like to stand where it happened. It's one thing to read the story, watch the documentary - but to stand there. You get...
08/07/2026

I like to stand where it happened. It's one thing to read the story, watch the documentary - but to stand there. You get the full experience of it. You can breathe it.

To stand where a shy teenager named Elvis nervously strummed an old Arthur Crudup song, when his dream shot appeared to be fading away from him. The taped X still on the floor. Then they pulled out the mic that recorded all those vocals. "Go ahead, you can touch it."

I may have momentarily left my body.

That's All Right, I Walk the Line, Great Balls of Fire, Blue Suede Shoes, Domino, Folsom Prison Blues, Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On, Blue Moon of Kentucky, and Rocket 88 which kicked the whole thing off.

We all owe Sam Phillips. And hats off to Sun Records for keeping it alive.

It's hard to believe he's been gone almost 30 years. Gone for as long as he was here.It was Thursday morning and I was s...
08/07/2026

It's hard to believe he's been gone almost 30 years. Gone for as long as he was here.

It was Thursday morning and I was struggling through an 8am ceramics class in Northern Kentucky, as were the usual suspects in the room. Our class was disproportionately made up of kids who dreamed of being rock stars. If we weren't on a stage last night, we were probably in front of one.

We were all well versed in Grace and excited by the news of his return to the studio. But that all came to an abrupt end. Eric Diedrichs broke the news, "Jeff Buckley drowned last night. Jumped in the river and never came back up." Then we all just sat in the silence.

Go watch "It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley" - beautiful work.

We drove 1,500 miles to stand on a platform 9 miles east of Marfa, staring out at the Chihuahuan Desert, hoping to catch...
06/07/2026

We drove 1,500 miles to stand on a platform 9 miles east of Marfa, staring out at the Chihuahuan Desert, hoping to catch a glimpse.

Charlie Padgett wish you were there.

Address


74859

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Matt Steffen • Photographer posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Matt Steffen • Photographer:

Shortcuts

  • Want your business to be the top-listed Photography Service?

Share