Celebrity and beauty photographer Matthew Rolston presents his comprehensive collection "beautyLIGHT: Pictures at a Magazine" (2008), featuring photographic portraits spanning a remarkable 20-year period from 1988 to 2008. The series encompasses a dramatic spectrum from vampish intrigue to retro glamour, capturing some of the world's most captivating and talented personalities including Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Drew Barrymore, and Salma Hayek.
As a protégé of Andy Warhol, Rolston demonstrates painterly skill by masterfully combining elements of style, staging, light, and color to create memorable impressions of his subjects. His photographs construct elaborate stages for his characters, imbuing them with the iconic power reminiscent of vintage Hollywood at its peak. Rolston's distinctive work has been prominently featured in leading publications such as Interview, Harper's Bazaar, and Rolling Stone, among many other prestigious magazines.
In her essay "Circus Of The Stars," acclaimed critic Ingrid Sischy describes Rolston's unique position in the photography world, referencing activist and author Carey McWilliams' 1940s description of Los Angeles as "a great circus without a tent." According to Sischy, if that metaphor holds true, then Matthew Rolston serves as the city's high-wire act. For more than two decades, his photographs have skillfully walked the tightrope between idealism and realism, consistently reaching the other side to the thrill of his audience.
Rolston's journey into photography began in an unlikely setting when he was just a seven-year-old preppy, dreamy Los Angeles kid with no interest in technical pursuits. In his grandfather's Beverly Hills medical office, where Hollywood stars felt comfortable as patients, the décor featured a classy 1950s aesthetic with beige silk shantung wallpaper. The walls displayed framed 8x10 photographs of classic Hollywood stars, all personally signed to his grandfather as trophies from his respected career as an internist. Many of these glamour shots were created by legendary studio photographers George Hurrell and Laszlo Willinger.
These childhood encounters with Hollywood glamour photography proved transformative for young Matthew, who still describes them as "magic." Hurrell's brilliant use of light, highlights, and shadow made the stars appear like "marble goddesses" or, as Rolston puts it, "waxed fruit." His grandfather also kept an elaborately framed photograph of Matthew's mother from her twenties on his desk, where she resembled Joan Fontaine's double. This image, along with his mother's fashion magazines that he obsessively studied at bedtime, provided additional inspiration alongside the family's collection of hardbound Charles Addams cartoons.
These early influences continue to drive Rolston's work today, creating what Sischy identifies as the key components of his distinctive style: idealized perfection, heightened fashion consciousness, and the ability to inject dark humor. Even with his early fascination with the images in his grandfather's office, Matthew didn't immediately choose photography as his career path. Instead, he arrived at photography after years of studying drawing and painting, and this background in traditional arts significantly influences his photographic composition.
Rolston's eureka moment occurred during his time at art school in San Francisco. Initially using the camera merely as a tool to understand how light fell on fabric for a drawing assignment, he realized he was more interested in the photograph than the original drawing project. However, true to his methodical nature, Rolston didn't simply jump into photography but invested years of serious study at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.
His relationship with Art Center became a lifelong romance that began in childhood when he bicycled to the campus in the Hancock Park section of Los Angeles. He remembers being captivated by the smell of turpentine, paint, and linseed oil. His educational journey there included life drawing as a child, illustration as a teenager, photography in the early 1980s, and film studies in the early 1990s when he expanded into video and film. In the late 1990s, he established a cross-disciplinary scholarship program in photography and film for the institution.
As a photographer who works primarily on assignment, with all photos in his book created for magazines, Rolston maintains a comfortable relationship between commerce and art. He appreciates how the two can influence each other and consistently credits the talented teams that contribute to modern magazine photo sessions. "Somewhere on a shoot I'm going to take pictures that I want to take that mean something to me," he explains, and he consistently achieves this personal satisfaction within commercial work.
Rolston positions himself as one of the heirs to the classic Hollywood tradition of creating idealized images and unforgettable pictures. Reflecting on his early career, he states, "I wanted to travel back in time and actually be there in the shadows of the MGM photo gallery." However, his ambition extends beyond nostalgic imitation, as he consistently pushes his work to remain relevant to contemporary audiences while maintaining that classic magical quality.
A pivotal moment in Rolston's understanding of his craft occurred when he finally met George Hurrell, the photographer who had so profoundly inspired his work. When the younger photographer asked the legend to define glamour, Hurrell responded, "I dunno kid, I think it's some kinda suffering look." This anecdote perfectly captures both the distinctive expression often seen in classic Hollywood publicity shots and the lengths people will go to for compelling photographs.
Rolston's romantic approach to photography drives him to give 110 percent to every project. "I want the viewer to gasp and then laugh," he explains, and this dual emotional response is evident throughout his portfolio. His work includes memorable images such as a spoof bloodied-up photograph of Jack Nicholson, mug shots of Jim Carrey, and Anna Nicole Smith depicted as dramatically shapely as a mountain range. Other striking examples include Drew Barrymore transformed into a boy, the Olsen twins styled as a nod to 1980s Madonna, and Bob Dylan captured with almost satanic intensity in his eyes.
Sischy concludes that while "the times may be a-changin'," in Matthew's photographic world, the "Circus of the Stars" remains eternal. His ability to blend classical Hollywood glamour with contemporary sensibilities has established him as a significant figure in celebrity portrait photography, creating images that both celebrate and gently parody the culture of fame and beauty.
