Hello Matthew, where do you come from? And how did you get into photography?
Matthew Genitempo (MG): I grew up in the suburbs of Houston, Texas. It was a typical middle-class suburban upbringing but I look back on it fondly. It wasn’t a very remarkable place, but that’s sort of why I loved growing up there. You had to use your imagination to make it interesting. My folks also have a little property in southwest Texas, so we split up our time a lot–weekdays in the ‘burbs and weekends in the desert.
© Matthew Genitempo from the series 'Jasper'
I took a photo course when I was junior or senior in high school and remember really loving all the alchemy that took place in the darkroom. I played in bands and had other obligations then, so I didn’t take it too seriously. I really fell in love with it in college. My focus was graphic design but I took a few photography courses and became enamored with it–with the history and the possibilities of it all. I can recall one of my professors showing me Eggleston’s guide. I remember loving the photographs, but I couldn’t tell you why I loved them. I think it was the first time I had witnessed pictures that didn’t resolve themselves or immediately empty themselves of meaning. I didn’t know that you could do that. That work, among others, really opened the door.
© Matthew Genitempo from the series 'Jasper'
What do I think about photography in the era of digital and social networking? How is the language evolving and impacting the daily life of people and communities in your opinion?
MG: It’s really tough to say–it’s complicated. I think the tiny dopamine rush that you experience when you get those likes or responses to pictures on Instagram is probably not helping us evolve in regards to our relationship with our own pictures. I always witness folks publishing pieces of unfinished projects on social media and that always irks me. I get why people do it. I think that the validation we feel from getting a positive response to a picture makes us feel like we’re on the right track, so I understand why. I’m just not sure Instagram is the best litmus test for good work.
© Matthew Genitempo from the series 'Jasper'
Do you feel like a storyteller?
MG: I don’t think that photography is really the best form of story-telling. It’s actually pretty terrible at it. A photograph can describe a moment or a subject so well, but it can’t really tell you much. There are so many contributing factors, but ultimately, it’s a fraction of a second of a moment from time and space from a certain viewpoint. That’s hardly the truth. So I think it’s pretty difficult to try and describe a landscape as charged and as peculiar as the Ozarks with photography. I don’t think it’s impossible to do it with pictures, but if there is a possibility, I set out to try and make those pictures.
© Matthew Genitempo from the series 'Jasper'
© Matthew Genitempo from the series 'Jasper'
© Matthew Genitempo from the series 'Jasper'
What about 'Jasper' featured in Urbanautica Institute Awards 2019?
MG: 'Jasper' is a project that I began and completed during my time at the MFA photography program at the University of Hartford. The men in the photographs have all chosen to live hidden away in the Ozark Mountains. Through photographs, I was examining my own fascinations with running away from every day. The view camera probably helped more than I actually realize. It’s such a presence in a room and it represents dedication. I think folks understand that devotion or at least from what I witnessed.
© Matthew Genitempo from the series 'Jasper'
© Matthew Genitempo from the series 'Jasper'
© Matthew Genitempo from the series 'Jasper'
The project began in medium format. I was really rigid with the view camera before I began Jasper. I was so careful with every picture. I think that was actually getting in the way of my pictures, so I took a break from the view camera. I spent a couple of months at the beginning of the project just learning how to react and lead with my intuition. When I went back to large format, I had redefined my relationship to the camera–to making pictures, in general.
What kind of feedback you had from the community?
MG: The reception varied. I experienced the entire spectrum of strangers welcoming/unwelcoming. Most folks were open and helpful, but there were a few that were cold and weary of my presence–with good reason. People like that don’t get too many visitors. I was as careful as I could be and I tried to be respectful of their privacy.
I believe that trust is critical for this type of work. For the most part, these people are detached from society, but oddly enough, most of them know each other or at least know of each other. One person would usually point me to the next. They were my guides. Most of the people I was interested in photographing can only be found by word of mouth. Folks don’t just freely give out that information. You have to build trust.
© Matthew Genitempo from the series 'Jasper'
'Jasper' is inspired by the life and work of the poet and land surveyor, Frank Stanford. If you’re at all familiar with the Ozarks and with Stanford’s poetry, you know that it’s tough to pull those two apart. Stanford and the land are inseparable. I couldn’t shake his influence the entire time I was there. I had a sort of Stanford lens on everything. Jasper developed later into a book. It was probably the most natural part of the process. I knew I wanted Jasper to be a book from the very beginning. I believe the book-form is the best way to ingest photography. I love the idea that an artist can loosely shape a world, hand it off, and the rest is controlled by the viewer. It’s such a simple and wonderful exchange that you can freely return to any time.
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