thatsthespot.com Matt Barnes photography blog

Norfolk County

Zippin’ up his boots, Matt gets back to his roots, by taking a look at several of his favourite photographs taken in Norfolk County…

“ Though born in England, I moved to Turkey Point (in Norfolk County, Ontario) when I was thirteen years old. My parents bought a campground, and for the next five years I lived amongst it. It was a great place to be a kid, as it was though I had a whole new batch of friends living in my backyard each summer. I went to high school in the next town over, Port Dover, where I attended Port Dover Composite School. I lucked out, as even though I was a relatively rotten student, teachers Mrs. Shantz and Mrs Hourigan let me embrace my artistic side. It was during high school that photography sunk her claws into me, notably through my co-op placement at Silver Parrot Studio. I was around sixteen at the time, and on my very first day I was asked by studio co-owner Cindy if I shot. That sounded cooler than anything I’d ever heard before, and that day I knew I wanted to be a professional photographer - even if just to answer that question with a resounding yes!

Most of my work has been influenced by growing up in a small town - from drinking and getting frisky in the woods to sitting around campfires, it was a great place to be a teenager. At the same time, I couldn’t wait to move to the city and become a big city person - which I did, and am happy as all hell to live in Toronto. I do find myself driving the near-two hours down to my old stomping grounds more often than I thought I would, often to use my favourite old spots as backdrops for shoots. Last summer alone I shot my two biggest creatives, Hands on D*ck and 2 Stroke, near Delhi and Turkey Point respectively, which goes to show that Norfolk County still holds its influence over me.”