Matt Black Awarded 2015 W. Eugene Smith Grant
A photographer with a long-term commitment to documenting poverty in America takes the prize
El Paso, TX
Alpaugh, CA
Corcoran, CA. Burning Tires
Syracuse, NY
Buffalo, NY. Shuttered Train Terminal.
Modesto, CA. Corner Store.
CAR Along Religious Lines
CAR Along Religious Lines
Photographer Matt Black has been awarded the 2015 W. Eugene Smith grant for his long-term documentary project The Geography of Poverty. Black started the project nearly two decades ago in California’s Central Valley, where he grew up, and in 2014 set out on a cross-country trek to document poverty across America. He utilized Instagram to publish the work during his 18,000 mile road trip.
“It was try to get the people who were on Instagram to picture themselves in these places,” Black told Time in 2014. Since then Black’s project has picked up support for the extensive body of work from MSNBC, Magnum Foundation, the Pulitzer Center, the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and now the $30,000 award from the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund.
“Black’s searing images depict what America looks like to the more than 45 million people living in poverty,” explains Brian Storm, Chair of the 2015 W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund grant and Founder of MediaStorm. “Geography of Poverty is an 18,000 mile journey that puts a human face on the staggering statistics.”
Photographers Mary F. Calvert and Marcus Bleasdale were also honored for long term documentary projects—the two are co-recipients of the 2015 Smith Fund Fellowship and will share a $5,000 award.
Calvert’s project, The Battle Within: Sexual Violence in America’s Military, takes an in-depth look at the lives of victims who have suffered sexual trauma while serving in the military. According to Calvert the goal of her project is to expose these crimes—there are an estimated 19,000 victims each year—and end the intimidation tactics so often used to keep female troops silent.
Bleasdale’s project, Financing the Failure of a State, focuses on the turmoil in the Central African Republic and the impact that the failure of the Muslim Seleka government has had on the Muslims and Christians left behind.
