Moira Matthews
My homebase is Vienna. My parents are both artists—my father an illustrator and painter, my mother an advertising artist. I got involved in the media landscape at an early age, starting my career at the then News Verlag as a vacation job at the age of 18—but I quickly knew: this is it! It was new and exciting. In the 1990s, everything was on the move, the most exciting time in the Austrian media landscape. With this magazine format, which was entirely new for Austria, we wanted to write magazine history in the editorial department. I simply absorbed everything, inhaled the daily routine of the editorial office—it smelled of cigarettes, coffee, and slide frames, the photo light tables were glowing. I continued my studies in psychology, journalism, and communications, but on the job it felt more right, more involving.
It has now been 30 years since my start in the magazine world. In those 30 years, I've had the opportunity to work for many well-known publishers and agencies in Austria and Germany, including Condé Nast Verlag, Red Bull Media House, REWE Group Verlag and Falstaff Verlag, for example.
When I was 21, I moved to New York City for six months. When I was offered a permanent position at NEWS magazine, I went back to Vienna. I helped set up and eventually managed the photo editorial department of FORMAT magazine. That was my first job as head of photography, and I was 23 years old.
After six years at Verlagsgruppe News, I moved to Christine Weinper as a photographer's agent, where I represented well-known national and international photographers and illustrators and produced major advertising campaigns.
That's how I ended up as an artbuyer at the advertising agency Lowe GGK, where I was responsible for beautiful campaigns such as Palmers, Römerquelle, and Don Gil.
My next job took me to Red Bull Media House, where I built up the photo editorial department of SEITENBLICKE magazine and after a short time advanced to Head of Photography of RED BULLETIN and SEITENBLICKE magazine.
From Red Bull, I was brought to Berlin by Condé Nast Verlag as Director of Photography for the young German VANITY FAIR. Condé Nast was certainly one of the highlights of my career and a great adventure. However, Berlin was a tough place: poor and sexy yes, but also cold and unreliable and just not my city. After a few years of self-employment as an artbuyer and photo editor, among others for Douglas, I was drawn back to Vienna.
In Austria I took over the Direction of Photography for the FALSTAFF Magazine.
My fascination for wine and winemakers led me to my first excursion away from the media and advertising industry into the world of wine. I trained as a sommelier and worked as a purchasing manager for a wine startup.
But my yearning for print and more creative work grew. So in 2018, I came on board at REWE Group's RG Verlag, where I took over as photo director for all REWE customer magazines such as Billa FRISCH GEKOCHT, MAXIMA, Adeg LAND UND LEUT' and many more.
Now with Maison Image I can fully dedicate my passion for visual creation and Zeitgeist photography to my clients and realize their projects in the highest quality. With Maison Image, I see myself as a creative visionary with a strong business mindset. With these two attributes, I am happy to accompany you on your successful and visually perfectly tailored path into the future.