Cowboy II
Last month, I went down to the Brooks campus in Ventura, to see documentary photographer Matt Black show his work and talk about it. I first heard about Black when some of his photographs of Oaxacan migrant workers in the San Joaquin Valley were published in a 26-page spread in West, the Los Angeles Times magazine (September 3, 2006).
He has the softest speaking voice you can imagine—I had to strain to hear him and a couple times people asked him to speak up—which seems to fit when you see his photographs. Not only are they grainy, but he’s captured such intimate moments that you almost hold your breath when you look at them, just to stay super-quiet and still. The room was silent when he showed his images—not just quiet, but silent. I saw Jane Goodall speak once, and she had a similar aura about her. It’s as though some people are so devoted to observing that when they find themselves in a room full of people, with all eyes on them, instead of the reverse, they’re almost stunned.
Anyway, Black has devoted his professional life to covering, as he put it, the dark places, the places where, from outer space, you can’t see any light.
He works in the tradition of Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and the rest of the Farm Security Administration photographers of the 1930s. Except instead of being steered by Roy Stryker, he chooses his own stories and then looks for outlets for them. Each story is chosen for how it contributes to the whole. As he said, it’s not about contests or photo spreads—the prize is building a body of work that records a moment in time, for the historical record.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the kind of work I want to do. Is it documentary? Is it fine art? Do I even have to choose?
What I’ve come up with so far is that I want to tell stories, about people and the places they live. Although I completely respect photographers like Black, who see people being abused (some would say enslaved) and want to use their photography to shine a light on the situation, I’m motivated more by curiosity (i.e., What will I find there?) than I am by issues (i.e., What can I do to stop this injustice?).
I’m taking a six-month documentary workshop this year—maybe I’ll find some answers to these questions. Or at least answers that work for me.
P.S. Took this photo this afternoon. He had just kicked off his boots when I found him.
He has the softest speaking voice you can imagine—I had to strain to hear him and a couple times people asked him to speak up—which seems to fit when you see his photographs. Not only are they grainy, but he’s captured such intimate moments that you almost hold your breath when you look at them, just to stay super-quiet and still. The room was silent when he showed his images—not just quiet, but silent. I saw Jane Goodall speak once, and she had a similar aura about her. It’s as though some people are so devoted to observing that when they find themselves in a room full of people, with all eyes on them, instead of the reverse, they’re almost stunned.
Anyway, Black has devoted his professional life to covering, as he put it, the dark places, the places where, from outer space, you can’t see any light.
Data courtesy Marc Imhoff of NASA GSFC and Christopher Elvidge of NOAA NGDC. Image by Craig Mayhew and Robert Simmon, NASA GSFC.
He works in the tradition of Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and the rest of the Farm Security Administration photographers of the 1930s. Except instead of being steered by Roy Stryker, he chooses his own stories and then looks for outlets for them. Each story is chosen for how it contributes to the whole. As he said, it’s not about contests or photo spreads—the prize is building a body of work that records a moment in time, for the historical record.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the kind of work I want to do. Is it documentary? Is it fine art? Do I even have to choose?
What I’ve come up with so far is that I want to tell stories, about people and the places they live. Although I completely respect photographers like Black, who see people being abused (some would say enslaved) and want to use their photography to shine a light on the situation, I’m motivated more by curiosity (i.e., What will I find there?) than I am by issues (i.e., What can I do to stop this injustice?).
I’m taking a six-month documentary workshop this year—maybe I’ll find some answers to these questions. Or at least answers that work for me.
P.S. Took this photo this afternoon. He had just kicked off his boots when I found him.
Copyright © 2007 Liz Kuball
Labels: Dorothea Lange, Farm Security Administration, Jane Goodall, Matt Black, photographers, Roy Stryker, Walker Evans
posted by Liz at 7:06 PM
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