Matt Glover, a wedding and brand photographer, has spent 4.5 years creating recipes, cooking, food styling, photographing and writing a cookbook. What started as a project for a positive mental health focus in the dark days of lockdown, has now flourished into an eclectic book with recipes, stories and fun experiences, not just from Matt’s kitchen, but a wide array of other locations, where Matt brings food and friends together.
Matt’s new book launched at 6pm, 4th September 2024 at The Old Pumping Station, Cropston.
‘Where the F* is my Dining Table?’ – the title of the cookbook – reflects the delay in delivery of ‘the cookbook dining table’ due to lockdown factory closure. This kind of dark realist humour from that strange time for us all, is woven into the narrative of the food and drink he creates, with candour and fun, in the memoir style of the book.
From the outset Matt used social media as a platform to gauge his audience’s response to his food and writing style. This approach came in very useful when the project ran into a roadblock and help was needed to fund the last leg. A Kickstarter was set-up and raised 142% of the project target of £7,200.00. It caught the imagination of the people and businesses of Leicester and throughout the UK, who have generously come on board with the project, and supported it. Strangers have even pledged to the Kickstarter from as far afield as the USA having been enticed by his mix of food, community and place.
Matt Glover commented: ‘This cookbook project was how I responded to winning my treasured Muddy Stiletto’s best photographer award back in 2019. Having never exhibited my own work, i needed a new challenge, perhaps with a crazy target, to explore a different part of my creativity. I felt it was time for me to create and deliver something wholly mine, borne out of my passion for amazing food and flavours. Lockdown was the catalyst for my writing.
Where the F* is my Dining Table? is all about positive human connection and rituals around the way we eat. Recipes and stories that will warm your heart, images to make your mouth water, and deliciousness to fill your belly. It’s about discovery and new learning in times of difficulty. Where the F* is my Dining Table? shines light in dark corners, tells a story of turning tricky hurdles into colourful springboards, and is full of inspiring, beautiful images all photographed by Matt himself.
About Matt Glover and Matt Glover Photography
From feeling at a dead end in banking at age 27, Matt began his creative journey studying photography in 2002. What started as an evening class alongside his full-time job led to studying at higher education level for 2 years. In 2007 he began his career in commercial photography at a Venture photography studio. There he gained confidence directing subjects and was known for bringing the kind of energy to create great facial expressions in his photography sessions.
Matt began his freelance career 4 years later (2011), with a focus mainly on wedding photography with personality. 8 years of freelance led to his ‘best photographer’ win (Muddy Stiletto’s 2019), this encouraged working with a marketing specialist which helped him diversify into brand photography. The pandemic shortly followed where Matt began his own food writing and photography project to bring his light and passion into the dark days of lockdown.
Matt continues his brand photography work helping his clients tell their passionate stories and showcasing their products. His food writing continues and his first self-publication: ‘Where the F* is my Dining Table?’ was published 22nd August 2024.
