Far From All That Allows: Molly Matalon

Matalon’s work deals with desire, idealization, and power dynamics, fixing a gaze that empowers and provides a rarely seen female photographic viewpoint. This sincere and personal language is carried through into her editorial work, which has been published in The New York Times, M, Le Monde, Interview Magazine, and Wallpaper*.

“The Photographing of America is a large order — read at all literally, the phrase would be an absurdity,” wrote Robert Frank in his application for a Guggenheim Fellowship in Photography in 1954.

Zak Krevitt, Molly Matalon, Corey Olsen, Pat O’Malley, Tim Schutsky, and Caroline Tompkins, six contemporary photographers following in Frank’s footsteps, are well aware of the inherent absurdity of photographing the entire United States. Instead of taking on the task alone, they are going at it together, working in collaboration while honing their individual perspectives. And in the process, they are forming a new wave in American photography. Graduates of the School of Visual Arts’ (SVA) BFA Photography program, the members of this group solidified steadfast bonds while still in college, seeking out community and connections whenever possible.