To be honest, I get no satisfaction from my finished images. The image itself means nothing to me; it is the process of obtaining the image that provides me with the satisfaction that keeps me looking for more- along the streets and in the pavement, in the chipped paint, in the mad colors and fleeting shapes, always looking.
Each image is the result of hours of aimless searching and intense looking, fueled by depression and existential angst. Each image is a meditation, a respite from gnawing questions of doubt and uncertainty. I am not looking to change the world, I’ll leave that challenge to those of greater intelligence and grit. To me this is pure, selfish escapism, nothing more. My only hope in sharing these images is that the viewer get some of the same joy and relief that I received in finding them.
As far as the imagery itself is concerned, there is no overarching theme, no cohesive narrative. I have had no interest in such things. The images have more to do with style and a different way of seeing the physical world. I often feel that style is a quality too often overlooked, regardless of the chosen artistic medium. A book, a film, a painting, a song, whatever the thing may be, can be technically well made, with each element in just the right place, but lacking that indescribable something, that missing element of style, it is easily forgettable. With that said, it is the potential of transformation held within the typical and mundane that draws me. A small detail captures my attention, and I think ‘how can I enhance that detail for maximum effect?’ It is the potential of that small detail that every image is built around, and the camera is the tool I use to harvest that potential.
Matthew Hall lives in a quiet corner of the world known as Rhode Island, nestled between Boston and New York. He continues to work a dead end job while searching for meaning and a place in the world. He currently spends a majority of his time lamenting his misspent youth. [Official Website]
