I had just left my apartment in New York City’s West Village when I noticed an incredibly unique rope-wrapped surfboard leaning against a wall next to two men deep in discussion. I got to the end of the block and couldn’t get the surfboard out of my mind so I went back, rudely interrupted the men, and asked if I could take a photo. The bearded one, straight out of a Hemingway novel replied… “Sure as long as you tag my gallery”.

Little did I know, I had met one of the East Coast’s most accomplished photographers. After I took the photo and discovered we grew up in neighboring towns outside of Boston, I quickly asked for his contact information and arranged coffee in our neighborhood as the idea for launching Long Wharf began to take shape.

Meet my friend, Matt Albiani. A New York-based photographer whose passion for coastal curiosity has lead him down an entrepreneurial path and seems to place us in the same seaside towns together once or twice a year. In addition to photography, Matt co-owns Mate Gallery, a men’s shop where New England lands in Montecito, CA, and Sea Roost, a rustic two cottage compound available for rent in Montauk, NY. I interviewed him on his sources of inspiration and coast to coast lifestyle below. - Mike Lamagna

You have an incredible eye for coastal charm. Did this affinity start at an early age with your New England roots?

MA: Growing up just outside of Boston, I spent a lot of time out on the Cape and Nantucket, and I think it came from that time.

Looking back, I was always drawn to the water, and the seaside towns that I'd visit had an old mystery to them that was always so intriguing to me. And also, that period in architecture is so primitive, classic, and beautiful. I love old things, and nothing is more charming than a coastal New England town.

How did you discover photography?

MA: My Mom and Dad were always taking pictures and 8mm films of us as kids, when we would travel and on holidays. Sometimes on a Sunday night, we would watch these home movies together as a family after dinner.

These times made me feel so special, and I think the love for photography really started there, like the nostalgia you get when looking at an old photograph. An image held forever in time on a piece of paper? It was a concept that, as a kid, made me long to explore the medium.

You've worked with the most recognizable brands in the world including Ralph Lauren, Vineyard Vines, Nautica, J. Crew, Reyn Spooner, and One Kings Lane just to name a few. What sets them apart or makes them great?

MA: Well, I love to work with brands that I believe in, that I share a vision with. And each of these companies aspire to make you want to live a certain way, in their particular view of the world. This makes working with them not really seem like work at all!

Do you approach each shoot similarly? What's your creative process like?

MA: Each job is so unique, but usually the brand and I would discuss a concept they are thinking for the collection we are shooting, and come up with locations and will storyboard that. Then with casting and talent, we create a sort of story to tell. It's a lot of fun, and something that makes me so thrilled to do what I do!

An example of how each job is different: with all that's going on in the world now, Ralph Lauren just sent me home product for their Summer '20 campaign to shoot at the house in Long Island, the first time they had ever done a shoot without being able to be on set. Working with the art directors remotely was definitely something I hadn't done before.

How have you translated that process into Mate Gallery and your other entrepreneurial endeavors?

MA: I think it has to come from a place of curiosity, always.

Mate Gallery comes from a place, similar to creating a world for a photoshoot, where you transport someone to another place - and that's what we (with partner Ron Brand) hope to do when someone comes into our shop, or even visits us on Instagram - takes them to a place where they might love to be.

And each time we create a new space for a pop-up, for example (like on the schooner GRAND BANKS or at the Montauk legendary SURF LODGE), it's fun for Ron and I to create a little of that world inside another place.

What is your favorite part of owning Mate Gallery?

MA: Having a shop is a lot of work! In the movies, it always seems so quaint and charming to be a shopkeeper, but it actually is really an incredible amount of sweat and tears. But the joy of having our little brand is so worth it, it's just brought out another side of what we'd like to show the world about ourselves.

I've also been able to show a new audience of people my photography work as well, which is nice. I'm always thrilled when someone is excited about receiving a print of mine for their home.

What is so special about the West Coast and Santa Barbara in your mind?

MA: It's really such a magical place, and so different from where I am from. Growing up, I always had a specific vision of what California would be like, and you know what, it is exactly like that!

The golden sunlight, the expansive freeways, the vintage cars that seem to weather so much better out there, it all has a beautiful glow to it that is pretty great. When I visit each month to see Ron and check on the shop, it's so fantastic to be there, take a drive on highway one, bring the dogs to the beach, and take in the incredible coast.

Among other East Coast enclaves, we've both spent a lot of time in Montauk. How did you discover it?

MA: Yes! Montauk is where I feel the most relaxed in the world. It's a place I don't really like to tell anyone about, but I think the word has got out, that it is so special. I was asked by a friend to join a share house twenty years ago, and I never looked back after that.

If I had to be in one place forever, it would probably be on that beach along the old highway.

What makes Montauk so unique?

MA: Besides the obvious shoreline, the ever-changing beaches and incredible light, its mix is what is so intoxicating. The people who come to Montauk are so varied, and make the community so rich in its storytelling. I like to say Montauk is a place where the surfer, the fisherman, the local drunk, and the investment banker all sit at the same bar. There's a casualness to it that is unparalleled.

Sea Roost feels like a lifetime of seaside inspiration came together in one project. How did the Sea Roost story unfold?

MA: It really is. I had been renting for the last fifteen years in this one section of Hither Hills, across from the most amazing, quiet beach in Montauk. There was a property behind one of the homes I rented that looked very storybook, all overgrown with mature landscaping and big trees around it. An artist lived there with his family for a long time. We were sort of friendly, and a few years ago, I heard that he was thinking of selling.

Ron and I reached out to him and he said he'd like for us to take the house, because he knew how well we had taken care of the rental houses around him all of those years. He didn't want someone to come along and raze his property. He knew we would preserve what he had for all of those years, and we were so honored to do that.

We are so thrilled to be able to call Sea Roost home, and to be able to share it with renters who come out to stay and visit Montauk. It is sort of like Mate Gallery in real-time, and a chance for people who love our shop to see how Mate can be in a home.

A big thank you to Matt! Be sure to follow along both @mategallery and @searoosts.