Matt Black

 Matt Black is a very well-known documentary photographer of the United States as well as his association with Magnum. Although he’s a documentary photographer, he adds his own personal touch to his work by having more emotional components to the marginalized groups in the United States. Coming from California’s Central Valley and traveling around the United States, he wants to capture the divided country over issues that concern minority groups and how different they live/treated within the Country. 

 

  

El Paso, Texas, 2015. Warehouse District, 2015 

After looking through many of Matt Black’s works, it shows the many concerning issues within the United States. One, in particular, is the issue of poverty. The photograph above represents the emotional aspect that Black is well known for, and it portrays the lifestyle that many in the country struggle with. All of his work portrays the environment that people live in, and working with black and white adds mood and a sense of hopelessness for these individuals. 

Overall, I love Matt Black’s work of capturing lives that are overshadowed within the United States. What I see is that his work does not focus on wanting to show beauty in something but rather focuses on swaying people to see the issue and the struggles that people face. It is not art, it is life. The beauty of documentary photography is to convey the environment of group of people that is true, Black gives his own take on it and represents the main issue of these marginalized groups.