Meet Matthew ( Coaston ) Langford | Photographer & Tarot Reader

We had the good fortune of connecting with Matthew ( Coaston ) Langford and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Matthew ( Coaston ), what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My thought process behind starting my own photography business was first to provide people with a creative space and outlet to express their visions and bring certain vibes and aesthetics to life. I felt like growing up I always had a hard time expressing myself artistically without judgement so I wanted to create a free judgement space for people to be themselves and have fun creating.

As for my tarot business, I was at a point in my life where I was completely lost and even though I grew up christian I was more gravitated more towards spirituality as I got older. I found that it provided me the answers that put whatever I was going through into perspective and positively changed my life. I got my first deck and would do readings for myself which gave me the guidance that I needed all along. I was told that tarot was of the devil but as i dabbled in it i found that it’s not true and that It’s mostly a tool that can help you through life. I feel like it’s mostly in the way that you use this tool that would deem if it’s evil or good. With that being said, I wanted to use tarot in a way to uplift people and help them with any issues in their life where they feel stuck. I didn’t really think about starting a tarot business It just sort of happened. I would do it for myself and it was more of a private thing since I thought people would be weary of me being a reader, especially my family but one day after a week or so of starting my first job at my 9-5 i felt empty and that there was more to life and I kept getting this nagging feeling of doing tarot readings on TikTok so i just did it not expecting anything but apparently many people were drawn towards my readings and I quickly blew up. It was nice seeing people messaging me and even coming up to me in public and saying how much my readings have helped them and changed their lives even. I had no idea I would be able to reach and help a large amount of people like that.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
For my photography business, I would say it’s the way I make people feel. People who I’ve shot with say they get a confidence boost after shooting with me and seeing the final photos. I feel like thats what makes doing these shoots exciting because you’re bringing your creative ideas to life. I recently did a photoshoot where I had been sitting on a certain idea but was waiting for the right person and time to execute it and thankfully I did with the help of some amazing people.

Professionally, I would say that never giving up and being consistent has brought me where I am today. I would make sacrifices that weren’t easy to continue my practice whether it was potentially losing my job for continuing my freelance practice even though it was against company policy or losing money for the sake of producing a great shoot.

Dealing with people who were not respectful of my time or energy was definitely a challenge and a lesson I had to learn. I feel like in this business many people tend to take a advantage of you because some people believe they don’t need to provide compensation for photographers, but through this I’ve learned to set boundaries or set intentions from the very beginning on what to expect when inquiring about photoshoots.

Finally, I would want people to know that it’s not about just “taking photos” theres so much that happens behind seeing the final photo and I think thats where people get misconstrued. It seems effortless to some because Ive been doing this for years but it doesn’t mean that it’s easy. Shooting/editing/retouching photos can be very tedious and time consuming and it’s not until you do it yourself when you find that it can be completely draining but seeing the end result is worth all the time and energy spent.

As for my tarot business, I find what sets me apart from others is the way that I shuffle and interprets the meanings of the cards and also my intuitive downloads as-well. Everyone has a different way of reading tarot but the readers I like shuffle sharply and have a card fly out which seems the most accurate in my opinion versus someone who does it sloppily and makes a mess of the cards but picks and chooses what fell out.

I had to go through hell and back to be the reader/ spiritual person that I am today. It’s hard going through a spiritual awakening and journey because you have to go down a path many are afraid to go through because you have to face your shadow self and also the shadows of other people. I had to let a few people go from my life in order to continue on this journey because they were either holding me back and/or not aligned with me and my purpose. I’ve definitely learned that not everyone has the best intentions for me and i feel like i noticed this more through my photography business than my tarot business but a lot of people showed their true colors to me when I started to elevate my self spiritually. I just want people to know that spirituality or tarot is not demonic although some people use it evil but i feel like you can say that for any religion or practice. The way I use tarot is to help people find their self worth and learn to value themselves so that they can elevate to the best version of themselves that they could be.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
First day here I would take them to all of the basic touristy attractions just to get that over with. We would start with a hike at Runyon Canyon in the morning and then go to Calic Bagel afterwards to they their signature garlic bagel. Later that day we would go to see the Hollywood sign, Griffith Observatory, etc.

The next day I would take them to The Getty Center which is an all day event and maybe end the day with getting Korean Corn dogs in Korea town afterwards.

Then to relax a little in the middle of the week we would have a beach day in Malibu or Santa Monica and walk along the pier then hit up restaurants and bars later in the evening.

By the end of the week I would take them to six flags or Disneyland and then take them shopping on Rodeo In Beverly Hills to send them off.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There were so many people and organizations that helped me be where I am today. Firstly, I would like to thank OnyxUnity which is a modeling agency in Los Angeles. I met them through Matrixmika on Instagram in 2020 who I was working with for awhile and was referred to them by them. The agency would send me models to do test shoots with and through them I was able to meet many people who I still shoot with to this day.

I would also like to thank Monica Luve who is a Youtuber who does tarot. She was the one that got me into tarot and encouraged me to get my own deck and learn for myself. Her readings helped me in the way I hope im helping people with my own tarot readings. 25

Website: https://www.mjhlangford.com/

Instagram: @Coastonblu

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjhlangford

Youtube: Blkdaiiisy

Other: TikTok: Blkdaiiisy

Image Credits
All images are by me Matthew Langford Images feature: Arianne (@yourhellcatt) on instagram Amber Zarate (@amberzarate_) on instagram Art (@arttkingg) on instagram Zairah (@zairaharida) on instagram Jelln (@J3llyb3b3) on instagram Andrew Nunez (@andrewstudios) on instagram Lola (@finedaytodye) on instagram Yvonne Bellido (@yvonnebellido) on instagram