Who the Heck Is: Matt Black?

Matt Black, Fence post, Allensworth, California

Matt Black's work will be on exhibit at Anastasia Photo in New York City, 143 Ludlow Street, from September 12th to November 1st of this year. Artist Reception, Tuesday, October 13th, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The gallery is closed on Sundays.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post published an incorrect date for the artist reception. We apologize for any inconvenience. —Ed.

Matt Black (born 1970) is a photographer from California’s Central Valley. His work explores themes of migration, farming, poverty and the environment in his native rural California and in southern Mexico. Recent photo essays have been published in The New Yorker, Mother Jones, and Vice magazines.

Black (right) became a nominee member of Magnum Photos in June 2015 and was named Time magazine's Instagram Photographer of the Year in 2014. He is a contributor to the @everydayusa photographers’ collective. He has produced or collaborated on short films and multimedia pieces for msnbc.com, Orion magazine, and The New Yorker, and has taught photography with the Foundry Photojournalism Workshops, the Los Angeles Center of Photography, and the Eddie Adams Workshop.

His work has been profiled by National Geographic, The New York Times, National Public Radio, Time and Slate, and has been honored by the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation, the Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund, World Press Photo, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Pictures of the Year International, the Alexia Foundation, and the Center for Cultural Innovation, among others.

He lives in Exeter, a small town in California’s Central Valley.

Anastasia Photo is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Posted by: Mike
(Thanks to Stan Banos)

Original contents copyright 2015 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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Comments

[Mike Johnston]

And may I just add, that is the best photographer name ever.

[Hugh Smith]

Mike:
As an addendum to your comment, it's been postulated that a name is the "life guide" for an individual. It could not be more appropriate for a photographer's given name than Matt Black.
(If only I had been named Brovira!)
Mi dos pesos

[Steve L.]

"Fence Post" would be a great photograph if it wasn't so over-cooked. I'm really getting sick of that look.

[Ed Hawco]

Best name ever for a photographer. Even better than the geologist I know whose last name is "Mountain" (and another francophone geologist whose last name is "de la Roche;" French for "of the rock"). Oh, and the ornithologist I know whose last name is "Bird." (I'm not even kidding about these.)

[Richard]

I like the subject matter presentation and most of the compositions but am not overly keen on the over-use of HDR and whatever other digital-dreck processing being done.

[Ken Tanaka]

Time Magazine has an "Instagram Photographer of the Year" award?! Really? Well,...OK then! Congratulations to Matt!

What prompted you to call this photographer out, Mike?

[Peter]

Thanks for the tip. I look forward to seeing the exhibition and the pics in print.

[Ned Bunnell]

A slight adaptation of the Dan Quayle quote comes to mind:)

[Doug Thacker]

I first met Matt about two years ago when he gave a presentation of his work at the San Francisco Art Institute, in the excellent series of photographer talks hosted there by Darcy Padilla. I thought then and think now that his is among the strongest documentary work being done. He has been living among the migrant workers of the California Central Valley for quite a long time now - several years - working on a shoestring and turning out powerful images. I can't think of a photographer better suited for entry to Magnum Photos. Congratulations, Matt! Maybe now both you and the people who have invited you into their lives will get the attention they deserve.

[Dennis]

The sample certainly looks like an overdose of contrast.

[Stan B.]

For those criticizing the over processed look in the photo above, while I generally concur with such sentiments, for whatever reason, it just doesn't bother me here- perhaps because it helps serve the abstraction, perhaps because I'm still in complete awe that someone took could take an image of such magnitude using an iphone (or even a Sony RX 100).

Regardless- make sure to view his analog B&W...

[Richard Man]

Nice photos and if Darcy Padilla hosted him, he must be good :-)

But the oddest thing is that when we emigrated to US, we lived in the slum - 109 Ludlow St. To think that there is now a gallery just a couple blocks away...

[Gabe]

Not being rude, but were you going to publish this on April 1? If one were to invent a photographer to go with that image, the name would be most apropos. Overcooked seems like an understatement.

[Christos Andronis]

Here's a great video of him tlaking about his approach to photography and his subject matter: https://vimeo.com/106332129

[Seema Seema]

this is speechless photography, I want to congratulate photographer for this amazing click

צילום ילדים

[Cyrus Beh]

Wished he'd go easy on the HDR "slider" though.

[Paul Mc Cann]

A la appropriate name. There is a printers in Belfast (Ireland) called Reid and Wright. Genuine name. They've been there for many years so it's not a marketing ploy..

[Darlene Almeda]

I grinned when I read Mr. Black's name; seems like a destiny name if you ask me. However, I do not like the fried pixels look, but understand why Mike showcased Mr. Black. I do want to say, "Congratulations to Mr. Matt Black," for all his accomplishments and entry to Magnum Photos.

[Hugh Smith]

I looked at the few online photographs I could find of Matt's work and I am thoroughly impressed.
As for HDR and "overcooking" I suppose one could accuse Gene Smith of overcooking (albeit posthumously) as was his habit of exposing for the highlights and letting the shadows fall where they may.
Matt's work is impressive.
Less than mi dos pesos.

[Ctein]

Dear folks,

Unless Matt is "printing" for a mediocre quality 800 pax JPEG (and he might be, for all I know), you simply cannot judge whether he has "overcooked" his photographs. You are not viewing them in anything close to the intended form.

All you might say, if you were so inclined, is that this interpretation didn't hold up well in this form.

Trying to do more than that is like trying to judge the literary merits of Faulkner by reading the Readers Digest condensed version. It is simply unfair to the work.

pax / Ctein

[John Krumm]

Christos thanks for the Vimeo link. Really enjoyed the video. Seems like a serious photographer doing very interesting work.

[Andre Y]

Thanks Mike. I just looked at his website, and the work is amazing and very much in the vein of classic Magnum photographers. (http://www.mattblack.com).

The allegedly overcooked style is noticeable, but I think very much in concert with his photos and composition, and seems more thoughtful than reflexive. Some of his Kingdom of Dust photos are heavily manipulated, but all seem to serve what the photos are trying to say. No. 8 with the field on fire is especially outstanding.