Harry Mattison
Encyclopedia
Harry Mattison is an American photographer born Henry E. Mattison in New York City. In 1978, he photographed the bombing of Estelí
, Nicaragua and began working as a photographer for Time Magazine. Between 1977 and 1996, Mattison photographed in Central America, Lebanon, and South Africa. His photographs have also appeared in The New York Times
, Le Figaro
, Paris Match
, Der Spiegel
, and many other publications. In 1983, he was awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal
for photography. That same year, he published "El Salvador: Work of Thirty Photographers," which he co-edited with Susan Meiselas
.
Mattison earned a B.A. in Philosophy and Literature at Fordham University
in 1971. During college he worked as an assistant to the photographer Richard Avedon
. Following graduation, he did research for Ivan Illich
in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
He lives in Maryland with his wife, poet Carolyn Forché
, and their son, Sean-Christophe. He is a member of the permanent faculty of the Maryland Institute College of Art
in Baltimore, Maryland. He has been photographing in the Peoples' Republic of China during the past four years.
Estelí
Estelí, officially Villa de San Antonio de Pavia de Estelí is a city and municipality within the Estelí department. It is the third largest city in Nicaragua, an active commercial center in the north and is known as "the Diamond of the Segovias."...
, Nicaragua and began working as a photographer for Time Magazine. Between 1977 and 1996, Mattison photographed in Central America, Lebanon, and South Africa. His photographs have also appeared in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Le Figaro
Le Figaro
Le Figaro is a French daily newspaper founded in 1826 and published in Paris. It is one of three French newspapers of record, with Le Monde and Libération, and is the oldest newspaper in France. It is also the second-largest national newspaper in France after Le Parisien and before Le Monde, but...
, Paris Match
Paris Match
Paris Match is a French weekly magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features. It was founded in 1949 by the industrialist Jean Prouvost....
, Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
, and many other publications. In 1983, he was awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal
Robert Capa Gold Medal
The Robert Capa Gold Medal is an award for "best published photographic reporting from abroad requiring exceptional courage and enterprise". It is awarded annually by the Overseas Press Club of America . It was created in honor of the war photographer Robert Capa...
for photography. That same year, he published "El Salvador: Work of Thirty Photographers," which he co-edited with Susan Meiselas
Susan Meiselas
Susan Meiselas is an American documentary photographer. She has been associated with Magnum Photos since 1976 and a full member since 1980. Her works have been published in newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, The Times, Time, Geo and Paris Match...
.
Mattison earned a B.A. in Philosophy and Literature at Fordham University
Fordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
in 1971. During college he worked as an assistant to the photographer Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon was an American photographer. An obituary published in The New York Times said that "his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America's image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century."-Photography career:Avedon was born in New York City to a Jewish Russian...
. Following graduation, he did research for Ivan Illich
Ivan Illich
Ivan Illich was an Austrian philosopher, Roman Catholic priest, and "maverick social critic" of the institutions of contemporary western culture and their effects on the provenance and practice of education, medicine, work, energy use, transportation, and economic development.- Personal life...
in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
He lives in Maryland with his wife, poet Carolyn Forché
Carolyn Forché
Carolyn Forché is an American poet, editor, translator, and human rights advocate.-Life:Forché was born in Detroit, Michigan, on April 28, 1950, to Michael Joseph and Louise Nada Blackford Sidlosky. Forché earned a B.A...
, and their son, Sean-Christophe. He is a member of the permanent faculty of the Maryland Institute College of Art
Maryland Institute College of Art
Maryland Institute College of Art is an art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of the first and oldest art colleges in the United States. In 2008, MICA was ranked #2 in the nation...
in Baltimore, Maryland. He has been photographing in the Peoples' Republic of China during the past four years.
Exhibitions
- Twenty-year retrospective, 1994, The William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Its Social Consequences, University of Massachusetts at Boston.
- Maryland Institute and College of Art, April, 1996.
- Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, 2000
- Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of PhotographyTokyo Metropolitan Museum of PhotographyThe is an art museum focused on photography. The museum was founded by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and is located in Meguro-ku, a short walk from Ebisu station in southwest Tokyo...
, 2001 - International Center of PhotographyInternational Center of PhotographyThe International Center of Photography is a photography museum, school, and research center in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
, New York "El Salvador: Work of Thirty Photographers,” September 2005. - 798 Gallery, Beijing, China "Ten International Photographers” July, 2007.
- Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin, "Inside El Salvador," April 17 - August 3, 2008.
Awards
- Robert Capa Gold MedalRobert Capa Gold MedalThe Robert Capa Gold Medal is an award for "best published photographic reporting from abroad requiring exceptional courage and enterprise". It is awarded annually by the Overseas Press Club of America . It was created in honor of the war photographer Robert Capa...
, Overseas Press Club, 1982. "Best Foreign Reporting requiring exceptional courage and enterprise.” - D.C. Council for the Arts Award 1998
- MICA Teaching Awards 2005
- Beijing—An Olympic City in View, Beijing, First Prize 2007.
Publications
Photographs have appeared in the following books:- The Indelible Image. Photographs of War, 1846 to the Present. (New York: Abrams,1985)
- El Salvador: Work of Thirty Photographers Edited with Susan Meiselas. Text by Carolyn Forché (New York: Readers and Writers, 1983)
- Day In The Life of Canada (New York: Collins,1984)
- Day In The Life of Australia (New York: Collins,1981)
- War Torn Edited by Susan Vermazen. (New York: Pantheon, 1984)
- El Salvador: The Face of Revolution Edited by Janet Shenck and Robert Armstrong. (Boston: South End PressSouth End PressSouth End Press is a non-profit book publisher run on a model of participatory economics. It was founded in 1977 by Michael Albert, Lydia Sargent, John Schall, Pat Walker, Juliet Schor, Mary Lea, Joe Bowring, and Dave Millikan, among others, in Boston's South End...
, 1982) - Inhumanity and Humanity (Tokyo: Tokyo Fuji Art Museum), 2000. Exhibition catalog.
- Writing Between The Lines: An Anthology of War and Its Social Consequences, edited by Kevin Bowen and Bruce Weigl. (Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 1997)
- "Learning Mandarin, The Lesson," Cue Magazine, 2008.