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Matthew Manning aka King Kuza is a Birmingham based photographer who takes raw portraits of friends and family in and around Handsworth. An area that represents the city’s wide diversity and cultural mix, his work showcases the characters and stories that make the city what it is. This is real life.
We went up to visit Matthew and spend a day in his life to get an insight into his working process, Japanese influence and the Russian martial art of Systema.
Where are you from?
England > Birmingham > Handsworth Wood
How does your area inform your photographic work?
I’ve only started to explore my area in photos recently and I’m going to say I find it majestic and ugly at the same time. You make up your own reality, I’ve meditated in the park in my area, I’ve witnessed violence in my area, watched the carnival go past my house, we have a pagoda, there are summer fetes, people selling drugs, bikers. It’s kind of made me embrace whatever aspect and it shows me that it’s not ever simple, things are quite complex and I love it.
What are your aims with your photography?
I don’t really see myself as a a photographer. I used to draw a lot before taking photos but I started to have panic attacks at college and used to get very fidgety when I sat down to draw, so taking pictures was a better outlet because you only have to rely on your eye. I have an aunty that was pretty obsessed with me when i was younger and documented a lot of me growing up, she probably has taken shy of 500+ photos of the family. I went to her house the other day and she gave me all the photos as I want to have a section on my website of me when I was younger. When I was going through the photos of myself it actually made me cry. Then I thought to myself how cool would it be for future generations to dig up my photos and have a more cinematic experience of life through a previous family member’s life. If something happens that I enjoy I always wonder how i can relive it again, so I guess I’m using photography as a medium to crystallise moments of my life.
How do you choose your subjects?
I rarely take pictures of people i don’t know and i don’t try to filter who I take photos of, I asked my nan if i could take her portrait the other day and she replied “cant you just use the old ones that we have, everyone’s ugly now
What makes your work unique?
My decisions. Everyone has a unique perspective but I think in the current generation we don’t champion our differences, instead we try to come together on the common thread. I like to explore the bits of me that are more personal. Also the fact that I used to meditate that’s changed me a lot. I liken meditation to having a new TV, first couple weeks its huge, you love it watching lots of movies on it then couple weeks in you cant feel the hugeness anymore. Meditation has taught me to keep the TV huge so things that may seem small and insignificant and maybe overlooked by someone are sometimes epic to me.
How important is family in your work?
Its important because its as personal as you can get, I used to rack my brains on how I could keep the things that I create original and through buddhism I came across the gem of self inquiry, all the jewels are there, so yeah its quite important.
Do you come from creative family?
Yeah my dad used to collect vinyl and was in a pretty big b-boy group back in the day. I have an uncle that does wood working, the other has a masters in animation and my other uncle works as a graphic designer but he can put his hands to a few things, he used to do some bad boy photorealistic paintings. I also have an aunty who is a textile designer and a cousin that does animation and illustration. I’m like the abomination, Ive actually tried out most of things .
What influence does Japanese culture have on you? Where does that interest come from and what inspires you about it?
My mom’s brothers used to buy a lot of imported things from Japan: books, Games ,toys etc but I wasn’t allowed upstairs at my nana’s when people came round to play games or just in his room in general. I used to spend a lot more time with my father and his side of the family and they are quite religious so going to my nana on my mom’s side getting glimpses of stuff now and again was quite stimulating. At that time my take on Japanese things were quite grungy and dark seeing movies like Ninja Scrolls ,Guyver and even the games, the settings, characters and the contents were quite mature. When I got a bit older and started to collect my own things I started to get interested in the more vacuous stuff, Japanese aesthetics, sensibilities and their affinity which nature. I think i find it inspiring because I have a real fascination with the duality of things so for instance I like dark things and lighter things and how they coexist. An example, a samurai in a flowery shirt chopping another samurai down. I love shit like that.
What is Systema? Where does it come from and what does it give you?
Its a self defence system that originates from Russia and was developed for normal townspeople so they could protect themselves from surrounding countries that were invading. It’s quite interesting to look into, it has ties to the Russian Christian Orthodox Church and was actually banned from being taught in Russia at one point. The best explanation that I’ve heard is if you apply yourself to learning Systema you can obtain the intent of a killer while having the looseness of a cat. It heavily revolves around control your breathing, fluid movements, removing tension from your body in stressful situations and physical confrontation. Its made me quite resilient and has given me a fresh perspective on how fragile the body actually is and why its important to stay on the moral side of things when it comes to dealing with conflict.
What motivates you to create?
My family and my friends! without sounding to cheesy but I’m just an extension of them and feelings that I have that I want to make tangible. Ive always found it magical seeing things created from nothing and the impact that it can have on people.I hope to add to the pool of good creative work.
What does the future hold for you?
I’m programming a startup, working on a leather accessories brand and writing a high fantasy graphic novel. Hopefully something gets traction so I can have my time to create more shit.
See more of Matthew’s work here:
https://www.instagram.com/kingkuza/
Portraits of Matthew & behind the scenes shots: Jake Ranford
Video: Dennis Corrigan
It was no mean feat getting to Ant’s garage. However, after successfully navigating my taxi driver through a maze of unexplainable road closures and Bedfordshire country lanes, I spotted the Autosportivo sign glistening in the sun from a distance and readied myself for what can only be described as a shrine for Italian motorsport.
Walking into the garage you quickly notice everything is Italian themed; from the cars, to the white walls with green and red trim and even the Abarth emblem stuck onto the post box. My eyes are instantly drawn to the reason for being here – the Lancia Delta Integrale. Two of them at that! Although they’re sat quite unassumingly under some covers, the unmistakeable bodywork of the hot hatch prevails and I recognise that I stand before rallying icons. That being said, the Lancia’s history hasn’t always been a racing one. “Before the Delta became Integrale it was just a normal five-door family hatchback” explains Ant, as he leans back into his Abarth racing seat styled desk chair.
“Lancia was doing rally at the time, ‘group B’ had just been banned and they needed a replacement for the 037, so Lancia put a four-wheel drive system with a twin cam 2-litre into the Delta and entered it into rallying… and it bloody won! As the years went on they modded the car so much – bigger wheel arches, sixteen valve engine…It won six WRC titles in a row which is what made it so legendary. No other team has ever done that.”
Ant tells me that Lancia had to put a certain number of Delta’s into production due to the fact that they’d entered it in rallying. Nearly three decades later though you’d seemingly have better odds on catching a solar eclipse. “These days when you jump in one and drive round people go mental over them” he says with a smile, “I was out on the motorway in my new Delta Evo the other week and people were slowing down to take pictures and wave at me! I’ve been in Ferrari’s and Lamborghini’s, you tend to get a lot of people sticking their nose up at you, but with the Delta you feel so special and respected behind the wheel.”
The Delta Integrale’s disappearance from the roads can be largely attributed to the value of hot hatches from the 80’s and 90’s shooting up in recent years. It would appear that, much like in fashion, car trends are cyclical and hot hatches are in right now. As such, they command a much higher price now than they did when they were first marketed. “A decade ago you could pick up the latest ones for around ten grand, now they’re fetching sixty and I’ve seen ones go through car auctions at eighty!” claims Ant staggeringly.
“Renault 5 Turbos, Fiat Uno Turbos, Cossies… all of them! Rich people are buying them and just storing them like pieces of art and watching the value go up. Problem with that is you’re not getting regular guys that can afford them and use them anymore, which is why you don’t see many of them about these days.”
When I ask how long he’s been passionate about cars the answer is simple – his whole life. “Being Italian I’ve always been into Fiat and Alfa, when I left school I got an apprenticeship there working in the garages” he recalls. “My parents wanted me to go work in computers but I hated it, I was just trying please them. All my family are in the salon and hairdressing business; my brother is celebrity barber – he cuts Lewis Hamilton’s hair and people like that, my sister is a hairdresser and my mum and dad own a salon that I actually worked in when I was younger. I used to proper hate touching old women’s hair and stuff so knew I couldn’t follow their footsteps.”
To his own self admission, Ant’s life “took a bad turn” in his twenties and he found himself in some tough financial situations and even bankruptcy at one point. Nonetheless, he’s optimistic about those formative years and treats them as a crucial learning curve to future success, “eventually I went back to cars” he states positively. “Around six years ago my cousin told me I should set up my own garage because I’m so passionate about Italian cars, so I sold my Alfa Romeo 147 GTA to fund the business and just followed my passion. I’m sat here today so I guess I must be doing something right”.
Yet, it is not simply by chance that he has been so successful in this venture. Ant starts every day at 4:30 am, goes to the gym and then heads straight to the garage, “there’s a lot of hours that go into this” he tells me, before excusing himself to quickly finalise a car sale on the phone. The hours are undoubtedly paying off though – clients drive in from as far as Scotland to get work done on their niche Italian models and Ant has built an online presence which puts him at the centre of the Lancia owners’ stratosphere.
I found the Lancia Delta scene to be quite an exclusive tight-knit community, did that influence your decision to create the owners group?
“You are right about that actually, I’d tried to organise meets with owners but they tend to be a bit older than me and only really socialise with their own kind. That’s why I started the Lancia group on Facebook around two years ago, every day is about learning for me and I feel like you should never be afraid to ask questions. I’d rather ask questions then sit in my garage and get it wrong. I also couldn’t find a community out there specifically for Lancia Delta’s, I had found a site online but you had to pay to be a member. I figured social media is the way forward and there wasn’t a page on Facebook were you could ask questions or anything so I just thought, “what the hell” and started it. Now it’s got over a thousand members.”
How important has social media been in terms of business growth?
“When I first started out it wasn’t that big of a thing but advertising in the local papers is prehistoric so I started the Instagram account and began posting up rare stuff, I noticed that people would like and share it to others which really helped me grow and reach more people.”
Why did you choose to specialise in niche and classic Italian cars?
“I’ve always driven Italian. I think German cars are boring, Italian cars have flare and you don’t see them about as much. Don’t get me wrong, if you want a nice reliable car go get a German…but Italian cars, when u drive them, you feel the road different. Jump in an Integrale and compare it to an Audio Quattro, you feel the passion behind the wheel of an Integrale. As an Italian I think I’m biased but no other car brand interests me. I worked at Audi for a bit so I have a soft spot for them and my guilty pleasure is the Honda Civic Type R – I’ve had a few of them. Other than that I’ve always been massively into my Italian cars.”
The comparison between Italian and German cars is an interesting one. Although the term ‘hot hatch’ was originally coined by Brits in the 80’s, fans of the class will know that some of the first hot hatch models came from Italian and German engineers – the Alfa Romeo Alfasud and the VW Golf GTi respectively. Their lightweight construction meant they could outrun a Ferrari 308 on country lanes while also clocking in a shade over nine seconds from 0-62mph on a flat straight. This sent ripples through the industry and laid the path for a wide range of competitors to be created by other manufacturers; cue the Ford Escort XR3, Renault 5 Turbo and Pegugeot 205 GTi.
By the 90’s however, European hatchbacks made way for a large influx of Japanese manufacturers, the most widely popular model of those being the 1.6-litre VTEC Honda Civic Type R – Ant’s guilty pleasure. The Type R spawned the increased availability of aftermarket products, helping to the further the hot hatch subculture that was steadily growing in the UK. Ant believes the answer is easy when questioning why the hot hatch has been so popular amongst British drivers for nearly forty years, “it’s just the style of them – three doors and fun to drive.”
Ultimately, it might not be the worst idea to keep models like the Delta Integrale stored safely and in good condition. They’re reminiscent of an almost extinct breed at this point and there are plenty of newer hot hatches for teenagers to race around a multi-storey car parks. Ant has a theory that the reason these 80’s models are so expensive now is because, “all the people that were in their late teens when they came out are in their forties now and they’re just paying whatever price to own their dream car from when they were that age.”
So I guess my final question is – had you always dreamt of owning the Delta?
“Yes. Always been the dream. I’m thirty-five now and I said to myself before I turn thirty I want to own one, and I got it. Now I have two and I look at them sometimes like wow…how did that happen? That was my dream car and I managed to work hard and achieve it. I even drew an Integrale for my GCSE Art project! I could be having the worst day ever, I’ll take a look at the cars and it just cheers me up straight away.”
Huge thanks to Ant at Auto Spiritivo Bedford.
Follow his social media:
facebook.com/autosportivobedford
instagram.com/autosportivobedford
Interview: Nicholas Borghesi
Photography: Jake Ranford
Greenwich editorial, showcasing forthcoming Spring/Summer vintage pieces.
Photography: Jake Ranford
Styling: Will Jarvis
Model: Joshua Simpson
It’s been a great honour to work with our friends at CP Company to put together an exclusive selection of vintage pieces that are now available at their Hankyu, Tokyo store in Japan.
We joined forces to create an accompanying shoot that showcases our selection of vintage pieces alongside their new season SS19 items to join the dots between CP Company’s heritage and contemporary lines.
Photography: Jake Ranford
Agency: Too Hot
Creative Direction & Production: Joseph Prince
Lighting Assistant: Rees Thompson
Styling: Calvin How
Styling Assitant: Will Jarvis