Photography
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Film & Video
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Photography – Film & Video –
Who is Mathew Cleveland?
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I’m a (copy)writer by heart, a photographer by hand and filmmaker and explorer of the human condition by soul.
I help clients and brands to express themselves genuinely and connect with the right audiences for longterm success.
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Leading 150+ projects honed my ability to solve complex creative challenges - whether designing brand voices or facilitating perspective-shifting workshops. I turn abstract ideas into executable strategies, balancing creative ambition with business practicality.
I’ve helped renowned clients like Montblanc, Lufthansa and Peloton along the way while working through multiple agencies as well as freelance.
So the story goes.
Numbers, agencies and clients are shiny but only tell half the story (at best).
If I reflect on my “proudest” moments it were usually not the spectacular campaign launches but those that actually made a difference in real life.
I’ve co-lead a and build a team of 5 and was in charge of training our juniors which to this day was the most precious work experience of them all. One started his own production company, one went to become a brand influencer, one is becoming a team lead as well, the other continues working as an outstanding creative. And my ex-co-lead is going strong, too.
I’m not taking credit for anything. They did the work. All I did was to believe in other peoples potential and help them to see and use it for themselves.And sometimes that’s all that’s needed.
Of course, that stuff didn’t come by chance. We’ve worked hard. Probably 20% of my unpaid overtime resulted from preparing and actually training the juniors with copywriting and ideation sessions, giving extensive feedback and getting everyone ready to actually lead projects themselves. And so they did. One by one.
Even after so many years in the industry it’s still awkward as hell to write about myself.
I guess I’m trying to say, that I care. I care about people, projects, relationships. About potential, about abstract ideas, beauty and tragedy. And I care about progress and actual movement. To transform the beautiful mess inside our heads into something tangible, something real.
I can help you see the forest and the trees.
And help you find out, what you truly have to offer. -
Picture this: Two fighters circle each other under harsh gym lights. Sweat glistens on toned muscles. The crowd's roar fades to a distant hum as they lock eyes. Both young men move with practiced precision – quick jabs, calculated footwork, raw determination etched on their faces. One lands a solid right hook, the other counters with a swift combination. They're evenly matched, both hungry for victory, both refusing to back down.
Who would you root for?
Hold that thought.
Let me tell you about these fighters. There's Adam, whose premium gear gleams under the lights. His path to this moment was paved with private coaching sessions and state-of-the-art training facilities. He carries the weight of his family's legacy – generations of academic excellence and wealth that opened every door before he even reached for the handle.
Then there's Brodie, whose worn gloves tell a different story. Between training sessions, he works late shifts to stay in school, his callused hands testament to being the first in his family to walk university halls. His practice schedule weaves between work shifts and scholarship applications, each punch thrown carrying the weight of defying expectations.
Now, who would you root for?
Amazing how context transforms a simple boxing match into something more, isn't it? Without backstory, it's just another fight. But add the rich tapestry of their journeys, and suddenly you're witnessing a modern David versus Goliath – where determination faces off against privilege, where every jab and hook carries the weight of their different worlds colliding.
This is why content alone never wore the crown. Context rules with an invisible hand, transforming mere information into stories that resonate. It's what turns brands from faceless entities into meaningful narratives worth remembering.
That's why I share these stories, these glimpses behind the curtain. In business, as in boxing, the strongest relationships aren't built on surface-level exchanges, but on understanding the context that shapes us. So here I am, dropping my guard, sharing the stories that matter. Because true partnerships, like the most memorable fights, begin with understanding the whole story.
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 •
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
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
BEIL
BEIL
“Throw an axe into thy soul, bewray to me how deep it sides."
(Wirf ein Beil in deine Seele, zeige mir wie tief sie reicht.)
God is dead. Nietzsche killed him. Are we left without grace til death claims us?
Or can we find divinity in the truest of all acts: humanity.
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BEIL is an upcoming screenplay written by Mathew Cleveland. It’s currently conceived as a seven series anthology dealing with themes of existentialism, family relationships and divinity. Its overarching themes explore characters who lost their faith in various ways and their challenging journey to reclaim their believes as their own.
SCREENPLAY ONGOING
Year
2025
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.
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
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
tst>shoot>minh
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.
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
Schwester | Fleabag | Else |
Schwester | Fleabag | Else |
Experimental
YEAR
2024
WHAT I DID
Camera, co-directing
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.