Matthew Buick - Durham University

Matthew Buick, BA, MA

Advanced Technician (Photography, Huang Kam Chak Yee Collection)

Overview

Matthew Buick is our photographer for the Huang Kam Chak Yee Collection. He holds a BA in Fine Art Photography from Glasgow School of Art and an MA in Museum and Artefact Studies from Durham University. Matthew prides himself on creating bold and interesting artefact photographs which aim to capture the experience of seeing an object up close, so that impression can be conveyed to a wider audience.

Matthew has a particular interest in digital access to museum collections inspired by studying his MA during lockdown, and believes impactful photography has a vital and exciting role to play in enriching the experiences of digital audiences.

Biography

Born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1991, Matthew had a love of museum visits from a young age and later found an interest in photography. Matthew learned photography at Newcastle College, followed by four years at Glasgow School of Art. This broad photographic education gave him a thorough technical grounding, as well as an appreciation for visual storytelling through aesthetically compelling photography.

Seeking a fulfilling career change, Matthew enrolled on the MA Museum and Artefact Studies course here at Durham University. After helping develop the online exhibition, Jericho: An Ancient City Revealed during lockdown, Matthew developed a deep interest in improving digital access to museum collections and feels photography can play a profound role in conveying the character and ‘soul’ of an object at a distance.

Following graduation, Matthew volunteered at Newcastle Photo Archive, establishing digitisation procedures and helping facilitate access to a largely unseen collection of donated photos. He also initiated a large-scale project to digitise a vast collection of 35mm slides, prints and glass plates held at Newcastle City Library. While volunteering at Hexham Abbey, Matthew co-created a photographic exhibition Light and Shadow which sought to reveal the Abbey’s elusive historical and architectural details, normally hidden from the naked eye. Matthew finds the task of interpreting an object’s story through photography to be the most rewarding part of his job and hopes to help tell the story of the Huang Kam Chak Yee collection through his work.