Born 1977 in Upper Sandusky, OH, lives and works in Boston, MA
Received his MFA from Tufts University, Medford, MA and his BFA from Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH
www.matthewgamber.com
Gallery Kayafas, Boston, MA
Color, or lack thereof, is at the forefront of Matthew Gamber’s most recent explorations in photography. Gamber’s images push the conceptual and technical limits of black and white photography—a genre that to this day is most associated with factual, un-doctored, authentic representation—and bring into a contemporary context that which appears locked in the look of the 1950s.
Rendered in black and white, Gamber’s subjects become abstractions—perhaps even barely recognizable to the majority of us who rely upon color cues to process visual information. By draining these objects of their hues, Gamber not only reduces them to their most basic elements—he also invites viewers to reconcile their preconceived notions about what seeing color really looks like. In this way, he subtly suggests that there may be some fiction lurking in the truth that was (and in many ways still is) black and white photography—and how vital that realization could be to understanding all that that we experience through the gift of sight.
