Matthew James Irwin (10 February 1980 – 5 May 2016) was a British celebrity photographer.

Life and career

Matt Irwin was born in

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

, England on 10 February 1980 and grew up in

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

, though he "didn't believe" and "felt rejected" for being gay. His older sister is author Carys Bray. Their father was a

stake A stake is a large wooden or metal implement designed to be driven into the ground and may refer to: Tools * Archer's stake, a defensive stake carried by medieval longbowmen * Survey stakes, markers used by surveyors * Sudis (stake) (Latin for ...

president in Devon and Cornwall. Irwin started taking photographs at age 15. He moved to London, and worked as an editor and then in-house photographer at the magazine '' Dazed & Confused'', with his first cover shoot first in 2007. Irwin photographed

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

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Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (; born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer-songwriter, television personality, and actress. Born in Pristina, modern-day Kosovo, she rose to prominence when she featured on DJ Fresh's 2012 single, "Hot Rig ...

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, and

Cara Delevingne Cara Jocelyn Delevingne ( ; born 12 August 1992) is an English model and actress. She signed with Storm Management after leaving school in 2009. Delevingne won Model of the Year at the British Fashion Awards in 2012 and 2014, and List of award ...

, among others.

Death

After his friends did not hear from him for a few days, police found Irwin dead on 5 May 2016 in his

London Fields London Fields is a park in Hackney, London, although the name also refers to the immediate area in Hackney surrounding it and London Fields station. It is common land adjoining the Hackney Central area of the London Borough of Hackney. The p ...

flat on Mentmore Terrace. The door had been left open. His family announced he had committed suicide, which his friends believed was related to a breakup. Irwin's suicide was later confirmed by the coroner at the inquest following his death. The investigating coroner, Jaqueline Devonish, noted that he had been suffering with depression and disclosed the results of his post-mortem revealing that he had died as a result of an overdose of GHB. Irwin left an "Open letter to The World" on his laptop, in which he elaborated on his struggles with depression and " growing up in a cult". The note was published in ''

Dazed ''Dazed'' (''Dazed & Confused'' until February 2014) is a quarterly British lifestyle magazine founded in 1991. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. ''Dazed'' is published by Dazed Media, an independent media group known for produ ...

'' in September 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irwin, Matt 1980 births 2016 deaths 2016 suicides British LGBTQ photographers English gay artists Former Latter Day Saints Gay photographers LGBTQ people who died by suicide Photographers from Devon Photographers from Lancashire People from Southport Drug-related suicides in England