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Bio
Matthew Connors 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 oppressive systems of governance. 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, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Roma, the MFA Boston, and DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in Prague. His first monograph Fire in Cairo (SPBH Editions, 2015) was awarded the ICP Infinity Award for best artist book in 2016. He has also been awarded the Abigail Cohen Rome Prize, a Headlands Center for the Arts Residency, two MacDowell Colony Fellowships, the Lightwork Artist-in-Residence Fellowship, and the Virginia Center for Creative Arts Fellowship. 

Connors earned a BA in English Literature from the University of Chicago and a MFA in Photography from Yale University. He has taught in the Image Text Ithaca MFA Program, the Yale University MFA Program, and in the Photography Department at the Massachusetts College of Art & Design where he has been a professor since 2004.   


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Awards
2024Abigail Cohen Rome Prize, American Academy of Rome, Rome, Italy
2022Artist in Residence, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA
2021MassArt Faculty Fellowship 
2019MacDowell Colony Fellowship, Peterborough, NH
2017Artist-in-Residence, Light Work, Syracuse, NY
2016Infinity Award: Artist Book, International Center of Photography, NY, NY