Bio

Born in 1984 in Tyrol and raised in the picturesque Lechtal valley, a region known for its rich artistic tradition. The Lechtal has produced several notable artists, such as Karl Selb, Joseph Anton Koch, Anna Stainer-Knittel (Geierwally) and Josef Anton Schuler, and is renowned for its Lüftlmalerei (traditional mural painting) and woodcarving heritage. Growing up in this environment, Mathias Herbert Wolf was exposed to arts and crafts from an early age—his father was a wood sculptor, his mother a painter working in traditional techniques. At the age of eight, he began trumpet lessons and attended music school, nurturing an early sensitivity to rhythm, tone, and form. He later explored other instruments such as flugelhorn, baritone horn, trombone, and guitar. His first encounter with photography came through a neighbor who kept hundreds of slide films in his basement. As a child, he spent countless hours there, fascinated by the glowing images on the screen—an experience that left a lasting impression. He has been drawn to analog photography ever since: to its materiality, its slowness, and the physical act of capturing light on film. After attending a technical school for construction in Innsbruck starting in 1995, he moved to Graz in 2005 to study civil engineering and law. In 2012, he relocated to Vienna before returning to Graz in 2017, where he completed a program in applied photography. Today, he works primarily with analog 35mm, medium, and large format.