Matthew Holden Warren '95 - Storytelling with Purpose

There is no one job title that accurately defines M. Holden Warren’s ’95 professional role. He is a photographer, cinematographer, artist, and entrepreneur. After graduating from Clemson University with a degree in philosophy and English, Holden joined the Peace Corps, serving in Tonga, a Polynesian kingdom comprised of 169 islands. This experience ignited a desire for a career in international development. “I didn’t have a clear direction right away, so I bought an around-the-world ticket and started travelling the globe looking for skills and contacts,” he says.

Now a freelance photographer and filmmaker, Holden focuses on projects that accurately portray life, while telling meaningful, unexpected stories about the places close to his heart – his hometown of Baltimore; the Kingdom of Tonga; Liberia, Africa; and Paris, France. With his work, he hopes to create “positive, sustainable shifts in society.”

A pivotal point in Holden’s career came about while he was studying yoga in India. There, he met a National Geographic photographer who invited him to work on her next project, a French feature film in Namibia called The Trail. “That was the start of an invaluable years-long apprenticeship, based out of Paris, that brought me to a range of projects around the world, such as documenting the refugee crisis in Greece in 2015,” he explains.

Much of his work in cinematography has been in documentary films, including the HBO documentary Baltimore Rising about the 2015 protests following the death of Freddie Gray. However, Holden has also worked on feature films and other freelance projects for a range of clients, taking him on shoots across 6 continents.

Holden got his official start in cinema making short films with friends while living in Paris, but his first taste of the industry came much sooner, as a morning announcements reporter for WMSJ at The Mount. “Being on the TV in the morning was my first foray into media. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but looking back, it was a step in a new direction,” he considers.

Holden also has Mount Saint Joseph to thank for kickstarting his interest in exploring other cultures. “I remember watching Powaqqatsi [in history class] and being blown away at the world that was out there,” he explains. “The class...opened our minds to the deeper truths of humanity.”

The search for those deeper truths continues to this day. As a photographer, Holden mainly shoots reportage for The Guardian, Vice, and other magazines, in addition to his now decade-long and continuing personal endeavor to document life in Tonga, Liberia, and Baltimore City. In Liberia, for example, Holden documented the conditions during the 2014-2015 Ebola response, while training ambulance drivers on the frontline. “I felt compelled to go help because I could,” he shares.

“My aim is always to move beyond documentation, and to build more meaningful connections with people and places. The more you see, the closer you come to real insight – and a better chance at making a positive change in the world,” Holden explains.

While he believes in the power of storytelling as a means for change, Holden has also made waves as a development entrepreneur. He founded Stable Outcomes Liberia, a green energy and logistics company that works closely on projects with USAID and the US Army. He also founded Niu Image, a film production company that works worldwide to create compelling content and develop local capacity in media, and Food Rescue Baltimore, a food justice initiative to reduce food waste and combat food access issues. Additionally, Holden is vice president of the Arabber Preservation Society, which works closely with Baltimore City arabbers, horse-drawn wagon produce vendors, to create a sustainable legacy.

Holden realizes his career path has been far from average. It is winding and complex, with plenty of side roads leading to exciting and exotic places and projects — from shadowing billionaires on their private jets to following artisanal fishermen in Liberia. He describes it as the pursuit of his own interests balanced with opportunities he’s been lucky enough to encounter.

He admits, “It’s not an easy path, and it’s come with hard lessons. Along the way I have been jailed, humbled, embarrassed, and hideously broke in a foreign country. All of these experiences have taught me that I am entitled to nothing, I am better than no one, and I have been blessed beyond measure. I learned from everyone who would teach me; I tried every food, drink or experience — within reason. The rest is a series of interesting stories and serendipity that have led me to where I am today, driven by a desire to be a better storyteller and a better human being.”
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    • Inner crater of Tofua, an uninhabited island of the Kingdom of Tonga

    • A Liberian fisherman mends his net in the fishing village of West Point

    • Syrian refugees arriving in Greece

    • The first night of light in Kwendin, a remote village in Liberia, courtesy of a power grid built by Holden's company Stable Outcomes

Mount Saint Joseph High School

Mount Saint Joseph is a Catholic, college preparatory school for young men sponsored by the Xaverian Brothers.