Matt Roberts portfolio was chosen as a 2021 Rfotofolio Selection by Diana Bloomfield. We are pleased to share it here.
“I find these images original and unique. I looked at them many times and always found something new. I love the very idea of returning to older photographs and reimagining them in distinctly new ways. Undertaken during the onset and subsequent limitations of the pandemic, this artist has chosen to degrade and literally peel back layers of earlier intact photographs to speak of isolation, loneliness, and disconnection. The beautiful and enigmatic nature of these images, especially where the painterly and muted colors seem to run off the page, works to foil the sense of dread and loss. I appreciate, too, that there are so many (literal) layers to these images, allowing for open-ended narratives and multiple interpretations.” Diana Bloomfield
Please click on image to see a different view.
When COVID-19 forced me to curtail much of my usual photographic activity, I turned a bit inward – physically and metaphorically. Specifically, I started repurposing and reimagining photos that I took in the safety of my backyard, as well as ones that I had taken in pre-Covid trips to New York City. I reprint the images, “degrade” and revive them in my kitchen sink, and then re-photograph them, sometimes in layers.
The technique is non-digital and decidedly low-tech, but it allows me to express emotions of loneliness, disassociation, etc. in a cathartic and tactile manner. The somewhat ghostly and quasi-apocalyptic tone of the images are undoubtedly a reaction to COVID; at the same time, though, my goal is to hint at mysterious, open-ended narratives that the viewer is free to fill in as they see fit. Matt Roberts
To learn more about the work of Matt Roberts please visit his page by clicking on his name.
I do love the mystery and beauty in these.
I love these ethereal, magical
Photographs. It’s encouraging to learn of your going back and peeling back layers. The images are remarkable
Great works…lovely series ~ smiles hedy 🤓☺️✨
Thank you
Thank you.
Thank you.