Matthias Wiegand was born and raised more than 7,000-kms from Merritt, in a small town just north of Hanover, the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony.

It was in Germany that Wiegand completed his education. Coming from a hands-on family of respectable tradesmen, Wiegand initially wanted to break the mold by pursuing a career in journalism.

“Germany has a different school and university system… the way I graduated, I could have gone straight to university for a Master’s degree, not like here with the detour through college and a BA (Bachelor of Arts) first,” Wiegand explained.

“I graduated well enough to get into any German university for business or law… med school would have been out of my league. I wanted to study journalism, but an older journalist told me my chances would be better to study economy and Chinese, maybe end up writing about business and finance in Shanghai.”

As much as Wiegand enjoyed writing, he couldn’t imagine himself being happy behind a desk in China, typing out financial reports or the daily drivel of foreign business markets all day every day, so he returned to his roots and took up roofing, following in his father and grandfather’s footsteps.

“I decided to pick up the family trade instead,” said Wiegand.

“I used ‘A family tradition since 1927’ for my roofing business. March 15, 1927 is when my grandfather started his apprenticeship. My grandfather was a journeyman, my dad and I are masters.”

Remarking on his missed business career on the Asian continent, Wiegand joked, “I couldn’t picture that, so I ended up roofing in Merritt.”

Indeed, in 2004 Wiegand came to BC on a work and travel visa after a few exploratory vacations in 1990 and 1994.

“I came to Merritt from Germany because I had relatives in town and thought this as good of a place than any other to start a life in Canada,” said Wiegand.

It was here that Wiegand developed an interest in photography.

“I developed an interest in photography from taking pictures of my food,” said Wiegand.

“I wanted to get better at food photography and ended up getting better a wide spectrum of photography.”

So much so, that just over a year ago, in 2018, he decided to take a detour from his roofing career and delve deeper into photography, launching ‘Wiegand Personal Stills’, specializing in both on-location and studio photography.

This development came as something of a surprise to Wiegand, who had previously considered writing to be the extent of his creativity.

“Writing was my strong suit, I’d never done anything visual before,” Wiegand explained.

However, the Wiegand Personal Stills portfolio continues to grow.

“I enjoy food and product photography most, but I am game for all creative pictures, and also standards like corporate headshots and family pictures,” said Wiegand.

Merritt and the surrounding area has provided an interesting backdrop for more than one photoshoot, and continues to inspire Wiegand to step outside of the box and try new and sometimes difficult projects.

“I think the desert landscape makes for a great portrait and fashion background,” Wiegand said.

“An interesting recent project I’ve worked on is a nighttime shoot of a fire spinning artist, Sean Turner, of ‘Spin Theory’, something I hope to do more of, since the area is great for shoots like that.”

Even now, in the technological age, where anyone with a digital camera or even a smartphone may claim to be a photographer, or be a hobbyist photographer to some extent, Wiegand has faith in his craft and continues to expand his knowledge and repertoire. He works with families, models, businesses, and other photographers whenever the opportunity arises.

“People underestimate the work that goes into it, it’s not just when they see you press a button,” said Wiegand.

“Photography is what you do before you press the button.”