Mat Thorne

Mat Thorne is a photographer and designer working in New York City and midcoast Maine. Co-founder of the design company Sevenbay, Thorne regularly acts as a design consultant and master Photoshop artist for photographers such as Joyce Tenneson, George Tice, and Anthony Goicolea. A native of West Virginia, Thorne earned his BA in Photojournalism and New Media from Western Kentucky University and was the Art Director for the Maine Media Workshops from 2004-2008. Thorne is also a gifted educator, having led classes, workshops and lectures at some of the country's most notable photographic education centers. Recently, Thorne has contributed a chapter on book design to Blurb's How to Make a Gorgeous Photo Book.

mat-thorne.com

Articles by Mat

Black Apple Pre-Sale on Kickstarter

August 18, 2011

ABOUT THE BOOK

Black Apple is an extraordinary collection of images from a visionary documentary photographer. Made during a seven-month stay in the Ferghana Valley of Kyrgyzstan, these images document the struggles of a society struggling in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Thatcher shot the project entirely in black in white using both panoramic and 35mm film cameras. The resulting images are stark and unyeilding, showing a forgotten and often desperate corner of the world, but they also offer a powerful reminder of the value of community and family.

Featured Artist: Miranda Lichtenstein

August 16, 2010

A great number of Miranda Lichtenstein's photographs seem to document a dark and chaotic wilderness, occupied by more shadows than people. Undoubtedly drawn to forests and their boundaries, Lichtenstein uses these physical lands as stand-ins for subconscious landscapes. The subjects of her images are quite familiar and ordinary, but they are transformed by her lens into something far greater, and less sure. Through her images we are introduced to a world of tremendous beauty and equally powerful darkness. It is a delicate, and expertly crafted, balance.

Featured Artist: Tom Bartel

June 3, 2010

Tom Bartel's ceramic figures have captivated me for a long time. They are whimsical, frightening and surprisingly fragile creatures whose distorted features reveal very "human" emotions and concerns. Living in a world devoid of polished surfaces and glossy appearances, Bartel's figures relate grand and fractured stories about human development and life cycles. Age is an indeterminate entity in Bartel's work, as you are just as likely to find cherubic infant-like figures carrying the life-lines reserved for the very old as you are to find a seemingly elderly figure clad in polka-dotted overalls or wearing a child's birthday hat.

Opening Night

May 8, 2010

Obscura celebrated the launch of our website with a gallery exhibition and book signing event last night at Asymmetrick Arts in downtown Rockland, Maine. It was a busy night to say the least. Generally speaking, a gallery exhibition takes a lot of work to get off the ground. Pair that with a major website launch and the release of a book (the softcover edition of Brenton Hamilton's The Blue Poet Dreams), and you have quite an event! And it really was a great night. Many thanks to everyone who came out to show their support for our fledgling organization.

Obscura will be on exhibit at Asymmetrick Arts though May 19.

Featured Artist: Anthony Goicolea

May 6, 2010

Anthony Goicolea's artwork captures what the artist calls a "sense of foreboding tinged with playful fantasy." Themes of sexuality, adolescence, and group-behavior collide with a world where complicated, and undefinable dramas unfold with little regard to logic or narrative structure. Anthony's work has captivated me since I was first introduced to it in 2004, and I continue to be astounded by his evolving vision.

The Blue Poet Dreams by Brenton Hamilton

April 10, 2010

The Blue Poet Dreams is a rare book, the result of more than a decade of rigorous work by one of contemporary photography's most innovative and provocative artists. Proceeds from the sale of the book will be used to fund youth scholarships. Softcover 120 pages 8" x 10" $65 Click here to purchase The Blue Poet Dreams

site by Sevenbay