Matt Black, 37, works on long term documentary projects about contemporary rural life. He is attracted equally to exploring the landscape and atmosphere of small towns and empty places, as well as chronicling intimate, human stories of migration, agriculture and labor among rural people.
His work has particularly focused on rural California. These photographs have been published and exhibited widely, and have been honored by grants and awards from the Alexia Foundation, the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, the California Arts Council, and others.
He grew up in a small town in central California and started photography at age 17, working nights in the darkroom of a local newspaper.
He earned a BA in Latin American and US History from San Francisco State University in 1994. His photographs from Latin America have been honored by the World Press Photo Foundation and the National Press Photographers Association.