Matt Weinberger
Invitation Only
From art openings to afterparties, photographer Matt Weinberger is capturing the moment.
by James Charisma
At some point over the last few years, if you went to the right party in New York City—maybe it was a magazine launch or the afterparty for a movie premiere or a cramped downtown bar packed with fashion people trying to play it cool—you might have noticed a flash lighting up the room every few minutes. Behind the flash was probably photographer Matt Weinberger: tall, wearing thick-rimmed glasses and shaggy hair, moving through the crowd with camera in hand. Listening as much as watching, waiting for the next moment when a laugh cuts through the music or someone cheers and makes a move.
Weinberger isn’t here to play it cool. He’s on a mission to catch this party in motion.
“I cast a wide net to get as much as I can,” Weinberger says. “My skill is not taking great photographs. I take a lot of photographs. The skill is picking the right ones where I capture a special smile or beautiful moment between people. That stuff really excites me.”
Weinberger has become a familiar presence across New York’s nightlife circuit. He documents events for publications and brands while building an enormous archive of release events, openings, and other cultural flashpoints. His photographs often feature recognizable faces such as Julia Fox or Charli XCX. They’re also just as likely to capture strangers mid-laugh, mid-dance, or mid-sip of a drink.
“People are just inherently interesting,” says Weinberger. “I tried doing landscape photographs and architectural photography when I was younger, but I felt like it was really hard to make anything that interesting. I love being around people so it was almost like a cheat code when I realized I can photograph people and it’ll always be somewhat intriguing to look at.”
Growing up, it wasn’t always obvious where Weinberger’s curiosity would lead. He painted, welded, built sculptures, and experimented with drawing and woodworking. When Weinberger wasn’t playing lacrosse, he was performing in his high school’s improv team. An accident during his junior year suddenly forced him to slow down.
“I broke three vertebrae and my pelvis in two places,” he says. “I couldn’t play sports. I couldn’t even walk.”
Weinberger was bedridden for weeks. When he was finally able to move again, he went from a walker to a cane, wearing a back brace while gradually returning to school on half-days with special accommodations. It would take five years before Weinberger fully recovered. During that period, his mother signed him up for a black-and-white film photography class as just something to fill the time while he recuperated.
“I broke three vertebrae and my pelvis in two places,” he says. “I couldn’t play sports. I couldn’t even walk.”
“I was able to take photos even when I was injured,” Weinberger says. “It got me thinking about photography in a more serious way.”
Even so, taking photos was still just a hobby. In college, he worked as a music editor at a magazine. During pandemic lockdown, he stopped shooting completely. Weinberger felt the urge to document people and events when the city finally reopened. “The first year after COVID, I was going out and shooting every night for fun, just for the passion of it.”
People eventually started asking Weinberger to shoot their own events: gallery openings, book launches, artist talks, fashion shows, you name it. One thing led to the next until Justin Moran, then editor-in-chief of Paper Magazine, offered Weinberger a nightlife column called Fresh Pressed. Over three months, he photographed close to 30 events.
“They were giving me access to a lot of cool stuff,” says Weinberger. “Once you have a track record, it becomes kind of proof that you can handle yourself.”
At events, Weinberger is usually given a face sheet of who to photograph before the night is over. (“I’m terrible with faces but somehow I figure it out.”) These lists usually include famous names, though Weinberger doesn’t get too starstruck. “I like Kesha a lot, she’s really nice and I enjoy chatting with her. Charlie XCX is great and crushing it with everything recently. Jack Harlow moved to New York and he’s always super friendly, which makes him nice to hang out with.”
Celebrities like Sabrina Carpenter and ASAP Rocky may be the draw, but they’re only part of the picture. So too are the strangers laughing and moving through the crowd. “I get a lot of people coming up to me asking to be photographed,” Weinberger says. “They’ll say hi and start dancing. They’re performing, I guess, hoping they do something that makes me want to photograph them.”
Shooting with a strong flash lets Weinberger freeze time without worrying about shutter speed in dimly lit bars and clubs. He prefers a mix of digital and film, using a Nikon D750 for editorial work requiring a fast turnaround (think coverage for Vanity Fair and Vogue) and an Olympus Infinity or Leica Mini Zoom for film photos. “Most of what’s on my Instagram is film and I get to do that at my own pace.”
Weinberger’s thoughtful approach extends beyond how he shoots. Even as his work circulates, the photographer is still figuring out what exactly he wants to build. “There was a time in my life when I did a lot of things a little bit. At one point, I had to decide, what’s one thing I want to do a lot?” Weinberger says. “I chose photography. And I feel like I’m just scratching the surface.”
As his profile has grown, so have the questions from mostly aspiring photographers and creatives trying to figure out how to break in, or simply how to find their footing. “Just go out and do it. Don’t wait for permission from the world to allow you to do the thing you want,” Weinberger says.
“If you enjoy it, it won’t be difficult. And eventually, if you keep doing the thing you like, other people might appreciate it. I feel grateful for people appreciating what I do and wanting to see my work and whatever comes next.”
“I get a lot of people coming up to me asking to be photographed. They’ll say hi and start dancing. They’re performing, I guess, hoping they do something that makes me want to photograph them.”
