Photography
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Video & Content
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Photography – Video & Content –
Who is Mathew Cleveland?
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I'm an experienced portrait and event photographer, content creator, and videographer with deep roots in advertising. Drawing on my background as a creative director, I bring extensive experience working with agencies, high-profile clients, and productions of all sizes.
Today, I help clients and brands express themselves authentically, creating meaningful connections with their target audiences that drive long-term success.
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Freelance Photographer & Content creator
May 2022 – Present
- Concept development, storyboards, and pitch decks for agencies & film productions
- Event & portrait photography for brands and businesses
- Copywriting, pitches and interim supervision
- Videoproductions from pre to post for various clients
- Clients: Schauspielschule Bühnenstudio, dfV Frankfurt, Sunzinet, HiFi Klubben, Digital Hub Logistics, British Chamber of Commerce, APPgefilmt
Creative Director Copy & Concept – JUSTADDSUGAR
Jan. 2021 – Apr. 2022
- Led creative work on 150+ projects in one year
- Directed multiple social media commercials & gained on-set experience
- Co-led and trained a five-person creative team
- Notable clients: Montblanc, Generali, Conrad Electronics, GALERIA, Edel Optics, HSV
Junior Copywriter – Kolle Rebbe
May 2020 – Nov. 2020
- Concept & copy for national and international digital ad campaigns
- Developed the launch campaign for the Peloton Bike+
- Notable clients: Peloton, DOSB/DBS, Facebook, Zalando, Google
ressourcenmangel
Oct. 2019 – Apr. 2020
- Branding & change communication concepts
- Development of headlines, storytelling strategies & print campaigns
- Notable clients: Subway, Hamburg Energie, Volvic, Preussen Elektra, VBG
DDB/Tribal
Oct. 2019 – Apr. 2020
- Long copy & newsletter
- Development of headlines, longcopies and always-on campaigns
- Notable clients: Lufthansa & IKEA Austria
Inhouse Copywriter & Creative – MH Handel
Sep. 2017 – Oct. 2018
- Responsible for text, visual identity & product presentation
- Developed SEO-optimized product descriptions & marketing copy
Writer & Salesman – Digital Squad NZ
Oct. 2016 – Jan. 2017
- Managed customer acquisition through outbound calls
- Created blog content focused on SEO trends, tips, and hacks
CLIENTS I’VE WORKED WITH
IKEA
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LUFTHANSA
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MONTBLANC
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ZALANDO
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BEURER
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HSV
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HAMBURG ENERGIE
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SUBWAY
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PREUSSEN ELEKTRA
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VBG VERSICHERUNGEN
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DIGITAL HUB LOGISTICS
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dfv EURO FINANCE GROUP
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VOLVIC
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GALERIA
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PELOTON
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PARSHIP
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GENESIS
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FLEXPORT
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NIU
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SIMon
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VODAFONE
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SUNZINET
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CONRAD
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EDEL OPTICS
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FOODIST
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& MANY MORE
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IKEA • LUFTHANSA • MONTBLANC • ZALANDO • GOOGLE • FACEBOOK • BEURER • HSV • HAMBURG ENERGIE • SUBWAY • PREUSSEN ELEKTRA • VBG VERSICHERUNGEN • DIGITAL HUB LOGISTICS • dfv EURO FINANCE GROUP • VOLVIC • GALERIA • PELOTON • PARSHIP • GENESIS • FLEXPORT • NIU • SIMon • VODAFONE • SUNZINET • CONRAD • EDEL OPTICS • FOODIST • & MANY MORE •
Montblanc
Montblanc
Montblanc might be the only voice-over I’ve ever written, which I actually still like in retrospect. Usually, when I’m done with a project, my mind finds a million ways to improve things. That’s how you grow.
The main film was part of a campaign for the new opening of the Montblanc Haus in Hamburg, a beautiful piece of architecture dedicated to the history of writing as well as writing history. The campaign at hand was aimed at an intellectual and wealthy Chinese audience, fond of literature and all things written.
I wrote the first draft of the script while being awfully hungover in a production van on my way to a shoot in Berlin. I stumbled upon an inspiring contemporary piano piece on Spotify, which I just put on repeat. There was a beautiful feeling of melancholy, limerence with life, beauty, sadness, and possible futures in it, which I’ve tried to translate into written words.
The soundtrack was composed within days by Friso (Dubbeld), a superb young musician, and recorded on a slightly broken piano, adding a rich yet vulnerable texture to the film.
The whole thing was filmed and directed by the brilliant Axel Stasny who is one of the most interesting and interesting people I’ve ever met. He pours his heart and keen mind into beautiful and thought-provoking documentary work.
No wonder he got shortlisted for the Academy Awards in 2023 year for the documentary "Camp Courage” (it’s on Netflix).
Montblanc was also supposed to be my “farewell project” at that production firm. I didn’t make it to set because I caught a bad case of COVID on my final business trip a couple days prior.
It’s an interesting way to leave. I think part of me was relieved to not have a big farewell party of sorts. I just leftafter I did my job well one last time. There is something calm and satisfying to that, too, I guess.
CLIENT
Montblanc/Justaddsugar
Year
2022
What I did
Concept & Voice Over | Creative Direction | Supervision | not attending my final shoot because I fell ill with covid
Farina #photography
Peloton #writing
EURO FINANCE WEEK
Precision under pressure.
#event photography
The Euro Finance Week brings together Germany's financial leadership and international economic luminaries in Frankfurt annually. This prestigious gathering delivers incisive analysis, comprehensive market perspectives, and executive insights as the definitive assembly of Germany's financial decision-makers convenes to assess industry dynamics and economic trajectories.
The photography demands were exceptional: five consecutive days of continuous shooting and real-time editing. Working with my dedicated assistant, we executed flawlessly under tight deadlines, delivering an impressive portfolio of 3,500 meticulously edited, publication-ready photographs. These images captured keynote speakers, high-level networking moments, and corporate branding opportunities—providing immediate assets for participants, presenters, and their organizations.
The result wasn't just documentation but strategic visual content that amplified event reach and engagement across platforms, creating substantial industry buzz and delivering measurable return on investment for all stakeholders.
Event photography
YEARS
2023 & 2024
WHAT I DID
Event photography, client management & delivering custom photo wishes on the spot.
Lilith #photography
AI SHORTFILM “IPSUM”
In January 2025, Donnie took his life – the day after his 30th birthday. We were colleagues who started our creative journeys together - he through Jung von Matt's academy, I through Texterschmiede. He wasn't the first. Last year, another colleague died by suicide in Scholz & Friends' office. She was around his age. Everybody knows someone they’ve lost.
Mental health crises plague the creative industry, yet agencies rarely address them adequately. "High pressure makes diamonds" remains the outdated mantra, but it's killing people. Each death becomes a "tragic isolated incident" in press releases, masking a systemic crisis. Modern creativity can't thrive under 1960s work models.
Minh broke the news during my work on an AI film competition entry, "Project Odyssey." Unable to continue my original concept, I channeled my grief into a new script. With film partner Axel Stasny, we completed production within a week. Not as a statement, but as my way of processing loss through storytelling - the medium where I find my truest expression.
Client
Experimental
Year
2025
What I did
Writing, concept, image generation, audio script, audio recording and editing
Axel did the clean-up and was my partner in crime
Andrew #photography
Edel Optics #concept #directing
HubDay24 #event photography
#Photography #acting headshots
I’ve always loved theatre, having acted myself in my school years. When my friend Caro asked me to take headshots for an aspiring class of actors, I was game.
The photos you see, are my personal favorites. It’s their true personalities that shine through in these moments.
They are “caught in the act” of being themselves. And I really love that.
Bonus points: Also the first time I’ve worked with medium format (Fujifilm GFX 100s). I love the way larger formats render color and add a certain depth and placidity to them.
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Caro
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Simon
SIMon mobile campaign x after work photo competition
When Vodafone's budget brand SIMon mobile approached us to create a campaign with comedian Simon Gosejohann, we knew we'd be tapping into nostalgia. The concept was perfect: Simon would team up with a raccoon mascot (also named SIMon), paying tribute to the street comedy that made him a household name in the early 2000s.
What we didn't expect was for the streets of Essen to become our toughest critic. The public was unusually hostile that day – hurling insults, attempting to grab our equipment, and even trying to damage our beloved raccoon mascot. Yet despite the chaos, our team persevered. We managed to capture not just one but a dozen different sketches, each one a small victory against the day's challenges. By wrap time, we were all too happy to bid the streets farewell.
But here's where the real magic happened. Instead of calling it a day, our teams sparked an impromptu photo competition. As Creative Director, I faced off against our Head of Production, Justin. The rules were simple: each of us could pick one crew member as our partner, and we had exactly one hour to capture five distinct photos. The judge? Our Instagram community. (And yes, I won – but who's counting?)
Looking back, that difficult shoot turned into something unexpectedly beautiful. It's funny how shared adversity can forge the strongest bonds. As crew and client joined forces in this spontaneous after-hours adventure, we discovered that sometimes the most meaningful connections happen when the cameras stop rolling. Those tough calls we made together? They built trust that no ordinary shoot day could match.
CLIENT
SIMon mobile/Vodafone/Odaline/Justaddsugar
YEAR
2021
WHAT I DID
Concept | co-directing | little bit of BTS photography
#PROBONO #photography
HSV JERSEY LAUNCH ‘21
Not being into sports has it’s perks. Meaning, you can find insights hidden in plain sight. Hamburgs biggest football club tasked my co-lead Linus and me with the jersey launch campaign of 2022. There was some design-substance stemming from adidas which aimed to be more focused on the community again. Other than that the timeline was short, the budget tight and you know the drill.
We’ve called up over a dozen different fans from all backgrounds and spoke to them about the meaning of football and the club in particular. What stood out, hidden beneath the obvious, was, that almost everyone felt a connection to and with the club that transcended and connected anyone with everyone.
This revelation led us to our core concept: "Fabric of our lives" ("Stoff des Lebens"). It was perfect – weaving together the tangible jersey fabric with this intangible connection we'd uncovered. While the campaign eventually used variations like "Fabric of my home," I still believe our original tagline captured something more universal, more profound.
Despite our budget constraints, we managed to produce four main films and dozens of social media pieces. Each one celebrated this discovery, this truth that a jersey is never just a jersey – it's a piece of something larger, a fabric that binds an entire community together.
Original campaign claim (our version):
"It's more than a jersey. It's the fabric of our lives."
Sometimes, being an outsider lets you see what insiders take for granted. And in this case, it helped us reveal the invisible threads that turn a piece of clothing into a symbol of belonging.
CLIENT
HSV/Justaddsugar
YEAR
2021
WHAT I DID
Concept & copy | BTS photography | supervision
HIFI Klubben
When HIFI Klubben, Europe's premier stereo equipment retailer, reunited their entire team in Berlin after the pandemic, I faced an unusual challenge: capturing 400+ slightly intoxicated Scandinavians in a single frame.
The Swedish contingent had already lost their ability to walk, but the real test was engineering the perfect shot. My solution? A frankenstein rig reaching 6.5 meters high: camera clamped to a gobo, mounted on a steel extension, all balanced on an extended stand. Connected via a 10-meter tether cable, I stood below with my laptop and a remote trigger, sending silent prayers to the photography gods that neither wind nor wobbling Nordics would topple my precarious setup.
It worked. Despite looking like a disaster waiting to happen during the test runs at the rental shop (and the final version stood even taller), we nailed the shot.
The experience left such an impression that I reinvested my fee into a HIFI Klubben stereo system of my own. As we say in German, "eine sichere Anlage" – a sound investment, quite literally.
A fitting end to a project where Danish audio legend Peter Lyngdorf's company demonstrated that while Scandinavians might excel at partying, they're even better at bringing people together through sound.
CLIENT
HIFI Klubben
YEAR
2022
WHAT I DID
Event photography | shitty rigging | entertaining 400+ drunk audiophiles
Edel Optics II #directing
tst>shoot>minh
Experimental
YEAR
2023
WHAT I DID
Concept | Photography & Light| Edit | getting drunk on 4,99 € sparkling wine | commandeering one of the worst hangovers ever recorded in modern history
I like Jack Bridgelands use of color (check out his insta here. That’s why I did my own test shoot featuring Minh. One day shoot, one day editing (per image). Yeah, photoshops generative fill and other AI tools were still kinda beta. Ultimately, I think, it worked and I pulled off an interesting overstylized color palette that takes inspiration from old-fashioned (handdrawn) commercials and the toons of the 90s – but you’ll be the judge of that.
Schwester | Fleabag | Else |
Schwester | Fleabag | Else |
When actress Diana approached me to film three monologues adapted from diverse screenplays - spanning from Fleabag to timeless classics - I embraced the opportunity. We sat together, dissecting character motivations and gradually refining her performance to unearth deeper emotional layers. This collaborative process of developing complex, gritty characters reminded me why I love theatre work. For anyone seeking a stage actress who can deliver raw, nuanced performances, Diana proves remarkable.
Experimental
YEAR
2024
WHAT I DID
Camera, co-directing
MISC/OLD WORK
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VOLT Patrick Fischer
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Neu & Frei GmbH
