Renowned portrait photographer Matthew Rolston has established himself as far more than just a portraitist over his four-decade career. He is an architect of imagery who pushes boundaries between beauty, psychological intensity, and theatricality. Trained at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, Rolston has maintained exceptional technical rigor and complete mastery of light and color, transforming each portrait into an almost sculptural visual object.
Rolston's work with cultural icons illustrates a constant tension between control and intuition. He doesn't simply reproduce familiar faces but dissects, elevates, and sometimes unsettles them, revealing what glamour usually conceals. Every framing choice, lighting decision, and chromatic selection is calculated to produce tangible presence and intensity that goes beyond mere surface appearance.
What sets Rolston apart is his ability to make aesthetics and critical observation converse. His portraits don't merely seduce but interrogate the very nature of imagery, the power of appearance, and the artist's role as a revealer of unseen truths. He imposes an exacting gaze on viewers, leaving no choice but to confront what the portrait reveals and what it withholds.
In an extensive interview with Carole Schmitz, Rolston shared intimate details about his photographic journey. His first trigger came from his maternal grandfather, a distinguished Beverly Hills doctor who served as Chief of Staff at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles. The grandfather maintained a private practice treating Metro stars during Hollywood's Golden Age, and his wood-paneled office was decorated with glamorous black and white photographs by legendary MGM studio photographers like George Hurrell and Lazlo Willinger.
"Feminine faces with impossibly perfect skin, in come-hither poses on silky satin backgrounds that were every bit as smooth as their skin," Rolston recalled of those early influences. These images, displayed in elaborate Lalique-style glass and sterling silver frames, captivated the young Rolston and set him on his artistic path.
When asked about his greatest influences, Rolston credited the "twin greats of mid-twentieth century magazine photography" – Richard Avedon and Irving Penn. "In a way, we're all children of these two great image-makers, and I'm proud to count myself among their descendants," he explained. Their influence continues to this day, not just for Rolston but for countless photographers worldwide.
Rolston expressed particular admiration for George Hurrell's iconic photograph of actress Veronica Lake, calling it "the apogee of a certain kind of Hollywood glamour." He recounted meeting Hurrell in the 1980s and asking the naive question: "What is glamour?" Hurrell's response was profound: "I don't know, kid. I think it's kind of a suffering look. Real Hollywood glamour isn't about smiling and kicking up your heels. It's about portraying a kind of noblesse oblige. One suffers for one's art!"
Among photographs that moved him most, Rolston cited Avedon's "somewhat unforgiving" 1957 portrait of Marilyn Monroe. "The mask of glamour was dropped and Marilyn's vulnerability showed through," he observed. "This image tells stories of abuse, suffering, sensuality and glamour, and instructs the viewer about the highly artificial and performative nature of Hollywood personae."
Conversely, Avedon's 1957 portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor still makes Rolston angry. "Their selfishness, their perceived guilt as known Nazi sympathizers, their obsession with fashion and status are all on full display," he said. "The Duke was meant to be the King of England and instead chose a life of superficiality and self-interest – choices that represent supreme cowardice."
Regarding photography's power to change the world, Rolston pointed to a surprising choice: Boris Eldagsen's 2022 AI-generated image "The Electrician." This work won the Sony World Photography competition before Eldagsen famously declined the award, making a statement about artificial intelligence in image-making. Rolston sees this as heralding a "seismic change" in photography, leading him to advocate for the term "lens-based art" rather than traditional photography.
"If an image came through a lens, or looks like it came through a lens, then it should be referred to as lens-based art," Rolston explained. "This includes traditional photography, AI-created images, computer-generated imagery, even photorealist painting. The advent of new technology doesn't necessarily mean ending the previous one – it's not either/or, it's yes, and."
Rolston's artistic philosophy centers on what he calls the "unity of opposites" – the concept that seemingly contradictory forces are interconnected. "There's no tall without short, no up without down. That which is gorgeous cannot exist without that which is grotesque," he explained. This principle guides his personal work, particularly his "Vanitas" and "Talking Heads" series.
The photographer consciously retired from commercial work over a decade ago, focusing instead on education, fine art, and supporting scholarships at his alma maters. His last commissioned work was photographing the stars of Damien Chazelle's film "Babylon" in 2021, recreating vintage Hollywood glamour with actors like Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt.
Rolston's creative process is distinctly nonlinear, beginning with extensive research followed by intuitive expression through music and color. Using Josef Albers' Color-aid Paper system and synesthesia, he creates visual and audio associations that guide his artistic decisions. "Once I settle upon music that feels like the emotion I wish to evoke, the headphones go on and out comes a packet of colors," he described.
Currently, Rolston is preparing to launch "Vanitas: The Palermo Portraits," which he calls his "most elaborate project to date." This series features theatrical portraits of ancient Christian mummies preserved in a Sicilian monastery crypt. "I'm not particularly interested in mummies," he clarified. "I'm interested in portraying the concept of the denial of death, suggesting our commonality as human beings."
Reflecting on photography's role in society, Rolston emphasized that images can serve as testimony and manipulation simultaneously. "There is no such thing as objective truth in any photograph," he stated, echoing Avedon's famous quote: "All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth."
For aspiring photographers, Rolston stressed the importance of visual literacy and studying the field's history. "Great images will be created by great image-makers, regardless of the tools at hand. To be a great image-maker, you must know your history," he advised. He also warned against what he calls "presentness" – being so caught up in the present that one ignores the wealth of photographic history available at our fingertips.
Rolston's ultimate goal is to create a state of "infatuation" in viewers. "If you've ever sat with a new love over champagne and felt both excited and relaxed simultaneously, there's no better feeling," he concluded. "That's what I want to give my viewers." His work continues to bridge the gap between commercial success and artistic integrity, establishing him as one of contemporary photography's most thoughtful practitioners.
