Matthew Irwin

Matt Irwin is an award-winning cinematographer with nearly 30 years in the film and television industry. A Californian-Canadian now based in Toronto, he was trained and mentored by some of Hollywood’s most skilled technicians and artists. Raised on a steady diet of National Geographic and American Cinematographer magazines, his young life featured an obsession with light, wanderlust, and documenting the world around him with a still camera. Thanks to this clash of influences, his experience is as varied as his credits— and he has since worked every job in the camera dept beginning in the film era, as a grip, lighting technician, gaffer, and camera operator.

Though his training began in feature films, Matt’s career as a DP has taken him around the world shooting documentaries and branded films about everything from Andean shamans to serial killers, and from sailboat racing to whiskey distilling. Clients have included Jack Daniel’s, Red Bull Films, Discovery, Travel Channel, Time Warner/CNN, and the National Film Board of Canada. His recent work on Chasing Whiskey earned a CSC Award for documentary cinematography in 2022.

Early work in Los Angeles involved a number of story-driven music videos, short films, Comedy Central tv shows, and commercials. This eclectic background has developed a personal style that tows a line between grounded naturalism and expressionism— a line that will always shift with needs of the story. A believer that the only constant is change, Matt strives to never stop learning from each new project, from his creative collaborators and contemporaries, and from his fellow crew. His most recent feature, The Queen of My Dreams, has been named one of TIFF Canada’s Top Ten films of 2023.

Matt is an Associate member of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers (CSC) and member of IATSE Locals 667 & 600. While away from work he can often be found somewhere in nature, on a bicycle, or travelling… a camera still never far from reach.