As junior Asher Collins finishes a dunk in the third quarter against Episcopal High School, his friend Matthew Suk could be seen just to the right of the basket, camera in hand.
The video will go on to get thousands of views on social media and Collins will receive more exposure around the basketball world.
Suk is shooting photos for NBA players now, but his close friendships with Marksmen are what took him to the next level.
A familiar face behind the camera, Suk didn’t stumble into sports photography by accident. It was his longtime friend and Lions’ basketball player Collins who gave him an invitation to shoot a preseason game, kicking off a journey that has taken him from high school gyms to NBA workouts in just over a year.
Suk, a freshman at SMU, can be seen on the sidelines of Lions’ basketball games. His work – sports photos and videos – can be found on Instagram by the handle: @mattshotitt.
His career at St. Mark’s didn’t start with basketball though.
He started shooting for St. Mark’s when his friend, junior Reid Smith, heard he was into sports photography and asked him to come out and take photos for the football team.
“I played basketball with Matthew during the summer of my sophomore year,” Smith said. “He was a really nice kid and I knew he was into photography so when football season started, I asked if he wanted to take some pictures. That was the first time he took photos for St. Mark’s.”
Suk didn’t stop there.
Longtime friends with Collins, dating all the way back to elementary school, Suk started taking photos for Collins at some preseason basketball games. Friendships, like his decade-long friendship with Collins, are what made Suk’s photography what it is today.
“He’s a great guy and is really cool,” Collins said. “He comes to most of our games and even a few team meals. We all love him.”
After taking photos and videos for Asher at a few preseason games, Suk made some new friends in Luke Laczkowski, Dawson Battie, Wes Jackson and a few of the other basketball players on the team. His bonds with players on the team have kept him shooting for St. Mark’s even when his talent has taken him way farther than just high school basketball.
After his business started gaining traction, Suk began getting requests from lots of coaches and players. Working for several NBA teams and even a few NBA players, he began to realize that sports photography was more than just a hobby.
It was a true passion.
“I realized how many people loved my work, which led to many high schoolers and other people, outside of basketball, inviting me to come take photos and videos,” Suk said. “I started out shooting only high school sports and began shooting for college games, then to NBA offseason workouts in such a short time, it made me realize how this isn’t a hobby, but it’s a fun job, and that a lot of people love my work.”
Basketball is one of the fastest paced games in all of sports, full of excitement from tip-off to the last second buzzer. People don’t watch basketball games and highlights to see people make layups and shoot mid-range shots though – fans are there to see the explosive, momentum-changing fast break dunks from the big stars on the court.
While there aren’t many bad seats at basketball games, Suk gets to witness these adrenaline inducing moments from as close as possible, helping him create amazing content for his videos and adding to his love for the game.
His love for the electric environment of players and fans during a big dunk have taught him to look for more meaning in videos. Instead of searching for moments that would make good highlight reels, Suk captures the whole moment of exciting plays, not just the highlight itself. He doesn’t go through the motions, instead, he captures a moment and stays in it.
“My favorite moment to capture during games is when someone dunks,” Suk said. “There’s so much to capture during a dunk: the dunk itself, the emotion of the dunker afterwards, and the emotion of the fans after.”
Suk’s basketball interest doesn’t stem from simply watching the sport – he has played it all his life and his love of the sport has grown through his photography opportunities.
“Shooting basketball has always been a huge part of my life,” Suk said. “I’ve played it all my life, all throughout elementary, middle and high school and it’s my favorite sport. That’s what draws me to shoot basketball the most.”
He doesn’t plan on stopping.
Only a freshman in college, Suk has his sights set on great things, hoping to be a full-time NBA photographer. If all goes well, he dreams of branching out into the realm of sports agency along with photography.
“In five years, I think I see myself either working as a professional photographer for an NBA team or player,” Suk said. “If I want to do something even more serious, my life dream is to become a sports agent full time.”