Prince Of Petworth » “Tough” A Portrait Series by Matt Dunn

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“Tough” A Portrait Series by Matt Dunn

Matt Dunn, originally from the Bronx, NY, lives in Shaw and has been a freelance photographer since June 2000. Matt’s work has been published in the New York Times, Spin Magazine, Mother Jones, Washington City Paper and other publications. He has work on photo projects internationally in Haiti, Cuba, India and Uganda.

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By: Prince Of Petworth | 07 July 2009 11:00 AM | 13 Comments

Nate

Distinguished looking lady in the pink. Reminds me of my grandmother.

July 7, 2009 at 11:37 am
Anonymous

Wow…the kid in the top picture has some amazing eyes….

July 7, 2009 at 12:15 pm
pete

i may have missed this when you were introduced to the blog, but a question for Matt: how would you describe your style? i can see that the 3 pics above are very colorful, but was wondering if you look for anything in particular or just shoot what catches your eye.

July 7, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Divine

Gorgeous. Scenic photography obviously has its strengths, but I tend to think humans make the best subjects. We like to look at each other.

July 7, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Bogotron

Fantastic work again by Matt. He manages to find very expressive subjects, and yes, the colors are always great too. Always multiple points of interest. And I agree with Divine – humans do make the best subjects.

July 7, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Matt Dunn

@ Pete

The portrait series is called TOUGH as a homage to NY street photographers Joel Meyerowitz and Garry Winogrand.
http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2009/06/7091/
The portraits are all shot on color film on the streets of DC. What I’m looking for in a subject is someone who is an outsider by virtue of race, gender, religion or worldview. The project is a reaction to safe, homogenized images in media that overwhelms our culture. A depiction of the real world DC except it’s authentic.

@ Bogotron – Thx, I will send you the $5 bucks I promised for commenting.

July 7, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Anonymous

How exactly are these people “outsiders” by your criteria?

July 7, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Bogotron

Thanks Matt, I’ll wait for the check in the mail.

Is shooting with film part of the authenticity angle you’re going with in this particular project, or do you always just shoot with film as a preference? I know that some people enjoy the “gritty” look that film can give images, but it doesn’t seem like that texture is what you’re necessarily going for here.

July 7, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Anonymous

Hey Anonymous 2:26. You have any naked photos of your mother? No? Wanna buy some?

July 7, 2009 at 2:50 pm
com·men·ta·tor

Why the Sad faces, try to show some happy faces

July 7, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Néstor Sánchez Cordero

I admire the great work of Matt Dunn, I wish I could do portraits like he does. My experience in general in the US has been that people tend to be very protective when it comes to portraits, compared to other parts of the world. Keep it up!!!

July 7, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Anonymous

An honest question by anon 2:26, and an interesting one. I’d like to hear the answer.

July 7, 2009 at 4:54 pm
new girl

Matt: Do you just walk up to people and ask if you can take their photo? Do you get many refusals?

July 8, 2009 at 9:33 am