I’m incredibly excited to be launching this new iteration of my website with a new photo blog installment. A huge thank you to my brother Haroon for building this whole site from scratch. It just goes to show if you want something done right you have to do it yourself…then show it to your sibling who does that thing for a living and they will do it right and save you from yourself.
A couple days prior to New Years Eve 2024 I worked my last day at the job I’d had for most of my twenties, packed my stuff, and boarded my first international flight in 20 years. I’m not great with change. In some ways this can be a gift, consistency is at the heart of most of the things I’m proud of. But in this case my aversion to risk led me to stay somewhere longer than I was meant to and leave in a fog of emotions. Less than 24 hours after emptying my desk I was alone on the other side of the world, staring out into a pitch-dark Icelandic morning as my bus left the Keflavik airport.
This was such a beautiful bus ride and after failing to sleep on my red eye this shot perfectly captures how bleary the sunrise felt.
An hour and some change after arriving in Iceland I was soaking in an oceanside hot spring, drinking a beer, and watching the sun rise on my unemployment.
One introspective soak and a few bus rides later I was able to catch the sunset as well on my ride back to the airport. Iceland has always been a dream of mine as a photographer and while I didn’t get to see much of it, my solo-layover-catharsis-daytrip did exactly what I needed it to and I’ll surely be back. For now both my best friend and a bed(!) were waiting for me in Manchester.
Celebrating my first morning in the UK with a full (veggie) English breakfast.
Big thanks to the Nile and Kristen for hosting me so I could hang out with Kaylen for the week. In addition to being amazing hosts with great style the Marr’s have awakened in me a hot water bottle habit I may never break.
Vacation socks that I still have not finished knitting.
Share is my favorite band. Are they yours yet?
The theme of this trip really was bus rides, this time down to London.
Kaylen and I walked around the Tate together, trying to dry off from the torrential rain we got caught in walking from the train. When we met in person for the first time over a decade ago we both happened to be in New York City and decided to spend a day wandering around MOMA. I took nearly this exact photo of Kaylen then in front of a Warhol painting, the first of many. In between taking the two photos Kaylen has taught me more about love, grace, friendship, and consistency than I could ever hope to synthesize. I hope I take one million more photos of her.
Hot tip: the carousel in front of the London Eye is a fraction of the cost and wait and infinitely more fun.
After being away from home for a week I was starting to get seriously burnt out and homesick. That night we visited a biblically accurate Philadelphia dive bar in downtown London. Same drink specials and snacks as my neighborhood bar, a Flyers game on the TV. I love Philadelphia, I love corny shit, and I loved this place.
Sorry to the people that were waiting to use the photobooth after us. We’re usually very courteous people, but we could not have cared less that day. Sorry if the booth ate a bunch of your money too.
Another bus ride, back up north.
After a week and change out of the country I was so beyond ready to reunite with my own bed and shower, but my connecting flight had other ideas and I ended up in Dublin for an extra day. Exhausted, but with two rolls of film left to shoot I just explored downtown, shooting photos for hours in silence.
It was really interesting to bookend my trip with two full days to myself in different countries, even if the second was unplanned. I think when you’re not a “people person” you get made to feel as though you’re at a disadvantage for experiencing life. While I don’t think I exchanged more than a “thank you” or “excuse me” while traveling solo, the experience is still colored five months out only by stillness and awe. Life is long and there is no replacement for community, but the constant ebb and flow of what we let outside of ourselves feels increasingly less fraught to me lately.
And finally home. For the first time in a long time my life is looking…different. Life as a working artist has been liberating and challenging and scary and exhilarating. I’ve been making all sorts of new stuff that you can see throughout this site and now purchase at noorannmatties.shop. Film prints from this and previous installments are available through my Darkroom.
I’m as open for commission work as I have ever been! Please feel free to shoot me an email if you have an idea I can help make a reality. Back soon with more updates and thank you, as always, for looking.
-Noorann