Matthew Connors

Matthew Connors (b. 1976) is an artist whose commitment to the medium of photography has been propelled by the revelatory potential of the public sphere. Rooted in specific currents of history, his bodies of work create a new visual encyclopedia of forms, portraits, symbols, and residues that emerge from protest movements, war, and totalitarian states. His lyrical yet methodical approach resonates with political documentary and street photography, but continually challenges and transforms these categories.

His photographs have been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide and published in numerous periodicals. He has been awarded the Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome, two MacDowell Colony Fellowships, a Headlands Center for the Arts Residency, a Lightwork Artist-in-Residence Fellowship, and a Virginia Center for Creative Arts Fellowship. His first monograph, Fire in Cairo, received an Infinity Award for best artist book from the International Center of Photography. Connors earned a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Chicago and an M.F.A. in Photography from Yale University. He has taught in the Image Text Ithaca M.F.A. Program, the Yale School of Art M.F.A. Program, and in the Photography Department at the Massachusetts College of Art & Design, where he has been a professor since 2004.