View the full collection on the Matt Gove Photo Website.

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“A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.”

Part of our mission is to inspire you to travel responsibly, expand your own horizons, and become a better global citizen. And the best way to do that is to immerse yourself in other cultures. UNESCO World Heritage Sites provide an incredible opportunity for travelers to do that.

UNESCO designates its World Heritage Sites for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. It wasn’t until I had visited the El Pinacate Biosphere Reserve in Mexico that I realized how precious these World Heritage Sites are. Ever since then, I have made it my goal to visit, experience, and photograph as many of those sites as I can.

In the gallery below, you’ll find the highlights from my UNESCO World Heritage photography gallery. And as always, you can find the full gallery on the Matt Gove Photo website.

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“I’m not sure exactly why I chase storms. Perhaps it’s to witness the incredible beauty of what Mother Nature can create.”

There is nothing more awe-inspiring that being so close to something that is equally as powerful and destructive as it is beautiful. As a meteorology student at the University of Oklahoma, I cemented my deep passion for weather chasing storms to all corners of the southern plains.

Today, armed with the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree in meteorology, I use weather to set my landscape, nature, and travel photography apart from everyone else. This is a collection of my favorites.

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“There is nothing so American as our national parks. The fundamental idea behind the parks is that the country belongs to the people, that it is in process of making for the enrichment of the lives of all of us

The National Parks epitomize our passion for travel and the outdoors, as well as our mission to travel the world and expand our horizons. And starting in 2022, it expands beyond the borders of the United States. This is a collection of my favorite photos that I’ve taken on my adventures at the National Parks over the years.

View the Full Collection on the Matt Gove Photo Website

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From Hobbyist to Semi-Pro to Professional

After launching the Matt Gove Photo site, I quickly made the transition from hobbyist to semi-pro photographer. At the time, I was working hard to establish my professional career in data science and GIS. I dreamt of becoming a professional photographer for years. But it seemed like I always lacked either the time or the money to make that next step. So the photography remained a side income for much of the 2010’s.

That all changed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020. Because I’m a travel photographer, one of my greatest passions was all of a sudden taken away from me when the world locked down. And with it went one of my only creative outlets.

Unfortunately, I needed to be creative to help balance out the technical grind of GIS and data science. So after 12-plus years, I finally took that next step and went fully professional with my photography. And I didn’t stop there. I used the downtime during the lockdown to learn video storytelling. And it really has propelled me to that next level.

The Matt Gove Photo Site Today

Between November, 2019 and April, 2021, the Matt Gove Photo site was completely redesigned and rebranded. The redesign focused on aligning the look and feel of the website with our mission and values, as well as emphasizing the visual media on the site. The purpose of the rebrand was to establish myself on that next level as a professional photographer.

The design of the Matt Gove Photo website has elicited the most ooh’s and aah’s from visitors, and is something I take immense pride in. However, most people don’t realize that I also coded the entire website from scratch. Once again, you need both the creative and technical skills to reach its maximum potential. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for it.

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