Dr. Matt Mathews is a fine art photographer and Professor of Theology at Memphis Theological Seminary. As a native Californian, he grew up very near the iconic landscapes of the Sierra Nevada and the Pacific Coastline that were so central to many famous West Coast photographers of the twentieth century. Mathews's photographic sensibilities were honed by exposure to these great American landscapes and to the photographic tradition of Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and others which emphasized compositional rigor, mastery of light and tonal range, and the sense that the best photographs emerge from photographers who are thoroughly immersed in the mystery made real in the everyday world around us.
Since his arrival in Memphis over ten years ago, Mathews has been intrigued by Elmwood Cemetery. For him, Elmwood is a place where grief, memory, and landscape converge. Elmwood is more than a resting place for those who've gone before us. It is also place where the community of the living narrates to itself who it is and who it desires to become. His photography of Elmwood during 2016 seeks to explore the complex web of human meanings that criss-cross memory, identity, emotion, and nature.
Mathews and his spouse, Dr. Kendra G. Hotz, enjoy living in downtown Memphis with Argos, their rescue dog.