Exhibition: Matt Black "From Clouds to Dust"

Texas migrant in her yard.  Teviston, California.  From The Kingdom of Dust series © Matt Black

I've always been partial to soft grained black & white photography, I really enjoy the depth and dimensions in his work and his use of gray tones. Although I prefer the fly on the wall approach that I sense in his work, the series seems distant to me at times and I wish he would have moved emotional closer at least in some of his shots.


I definitely recommend checking out the exhibition. I love his approach and aesthetic and the story deserves telling.

Matt Black grew up in a small town in the Central Valley, a vast agricultural area in the heart of the state. His twin documentary projects The Kingdom of Dust  and The People of Clouds explore the changing human relationship to food, farming and the environment. In 1995, Black returned to his native region, California’s Central Valley, to embark on The Kingdom of Dust , a multi-year chronicle exploring the underside of contemporary rural life in the shadow of some of America's richest farms. While working on this project, Black noticed a shift in the population of migrants coming to work the fields, and in 2000 began The People of Clouds , an extended photographic inquiry into the collapse of indigenous farming communities in the Mixteca region of southern Mexico. Through Black’s masterful eye and intimate relationship with his subjects, his photographs reveal the poetry of everyday moments as he chronicles communities in flux responding to broader global forces.

Riding to work in a farm labor bus.  Fresno, California. From The Kingdom of Dust series © Matt Black

Fishing in an irrigation canal.  Corcoran, California.  From The Kingdom of Dust series © Matt Black

Cooking in the kitchen at home.  San Miguel Cuevas, Mexico.  From The People of Clouds series © Matt Black

Matt Black

Anastasia Photo

From Clouds to Dust

September 12 - October 19, 2014

166 ORCHARD STREET   NEW YORK, NY 10002   212.677.9725 T   212.677.9726 F

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